By Stephen Macaulay

Joe Biden “is the first President to make no effort whatsoever to protect presidential communications from being the subject of compelled testimony. Mr. Meadows remains under the instructions of former President Trump to respect longstanding principles of executive privilege. It now appears the courts will have to resolve this conflict.”

That from former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger III, according to The Washington Post.

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 mayhem at the Capitol has requested documents from Meadows (as well as his appearance in front of the committee).

It would be a cheap shot based on the attorney’s name that there seems to be a difference between the rich and powerful and the rest of us. I’ll take it.

If you were served a subpoena by the United States House of Representatives, I’m guessing that following a reaction of “oh shit,” you’d clear your calendar.

But Meadows, as well as several other Trump acolytes, seem to think that they must listen to their liege and they are above doing what the rest of us would be obligated to do.

Let’s think about Terwillger’s quote. “[T]he first President to make no effort whatsoever to protect presidential communication from being the subject of compelled testimony.” First, that seems to be a rather extensive claim. Second, when else did we have a president who reportedly sat watching TV while the U.S. Capitol was under attack and chose not to do anything about it until he was good and ready, and at that point made what is arguably a mealy-mouthed recommendation that the anarchists go home. (No, those people who attacked the Capitol are not anarchists in the true sense of the word, as anarchists would not storm against the government on behalf of a politician, but seeing as how the Republicans imprecisely bandy about the term “socialist,” fair is fair, unless you are Trump, and fairness is what he says it is.)

Then there’s “under the instructions of former President Trump.” That adjective means “previous.” Trump is no longer president. He is, which may come as a surprise to some people, a regular citizen. Meadows might as well be under the instructions of Ryan Seacrest.

The “longstanding principles of executive privilege” is also rich.

The Presidential Oath of Office includes the phrase, “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

On January 6, the U.S. Congress was fulfilling its duties under the Constitution. So to protect Congress would be to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.”

Somehow one could argue that (1) not only does executive privilege end when someone is no longer in charge of the Executive Branch, but (2) the abrogation of his responsibilities on January 6 — and does any doubt that his inaction that afternoon contributed to things like, oh, the vice president’s life being put in danger — makes that privilege, under these circumstances, laughable.