CNN reports that lawyers representing Donald Trump are currently in discussions with representatives from the US Department of Justice relating to potential testimony about his actions around the January 6th Republican-led domestic terrorist attack on Congress and his efforts to overturn the results of the November 2020 election.

The discussions reportedly revolve around what communications Trump can claim to be shielded under various privilege claims such as executive privilege and lawyer-client confidentiality.  Trump reportedly wants to keep discussions he had with West Wing staff shielded from grand jury testimony.

While Trump has absolutely no authority to claim executive privilege on any conversations because only the sitting President can make such an assertion, the discussions appear to be an attempt to get the Biden Administration to outline what topics could legitimately be covered by the privilege, with the Justice Department serving as a conduit to the White House.

Trump’s been under increasing pressure as more and more of his senior staff from the White House and the campaign have either voluntarily testified or responded to subpoenas.  Recently, former White House Counsel Patsy Baloney Pat Cipollone was subpoenaed by the federal grand jury investigating January 6th and the efforts by the Trump camp to invalidate election results by sending fake and forged slates of electors to the National Archives and Congress.

In certain cases heard in the DC federal grand juries, executive privilege and attorney-client privilege claims are dismissed because the courts have determined that grand juries considering criminal charges have a need to know certain background information.  That does not mean that such information can be used during the criminal trial or released to the public, but the courts have ruled that the need for the grand jury to find the truth supersedes privilege claims.