The Justice Department has cited “presidential privilege” as its reason for not releasing dozens of emails written by Trump administration officials about the hold on military aid to Ukraine. Heather Walsh, a lawyer for the Office of Management and Budget, acknowledged in a late-night court filing on Friday that 24 emails “reflect communications by either the President, the Vice President, or the President’s immediate advisors regarding Presidential decision-making about the scope, duration, and purpose of the hold on military assistance to Ukraine,” The Washington Post reported. Those emails, she said, are shielded by “presidential privilege” and thus should not be unredacted as part of the Center for Public Integrity’s Freedom of Information Act request. The Trump administration released several emails relevant to the request in December, but they were heavily redacted and the Center for Public Integrity has pushed for fully unredacted versions.
