联邦法官质疑前总统唐纳德·特朗普有权在周二的听证会上援引行政特权，该听证会涉及前总统试图阻止向1月6日调查国会大厦暴动的众议院委员会公布白宫记录。
近四个小时的听证会有时会引发争议，因为美国上诉法院的一个三人法官小组挑出了特朗普法律团队成员提出的多个论点，他们认为国会要求的记录专横跋扈，缺乏立法目的，这些记录应该“根据《总统记录法》被指定为特权和/或其他限制。”
法院质疑前总统是否有权要求行政特权，此前总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)决定，他不会阻止众议院调查委员会寻求的那部分文件，声称移交这些文件符合美国的最佳利益。
“我们想不出前总统有任何其他机会打这个电话，”帕特里夏·米莱特法官说。
“为什么前总统有权决定是否满足适当立法请求的法定标准?”米利特补充道。
法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊问特朗普的律师，“谁来决定什么时候披露总统记录最符合美国的利益?是白宫现任主人还是前任主人?”
众议院总法律顾问道格拉斯·莱特(Douglas Letter)认为，现任总统最有资格权衡与国家利益相关的行政特权。
Letter说:“正是现任总统处于最好的位置，也是迄今为止最好的位置，来决定什么符合当时行政部门的利益。
特朗普的律师贾斯汀·克拉克(Justin Clark)也在前总统连任竞选中担任高级职务，他认为特朗普可以起诉阻止现任总统使用前政府的记录，并认为法院可以决定行政特权。
在一个激烈的时刻，当克拉克反驳行政特权的本质时，米利特法官似乎对他很生气。
“停下来，请停下来，”当克拉克再次试图解释行政特权学说时，米利特告诉克拉克。
今年8月，1月6日的委员会要求特朗普的白宫提供目前保存在国家档案馆的文件，包括白宫电话和访客记录、电子邮件和笔记，可追溯到起义前。法宝被迅速起诉，要求阻止公布这些记录，并辩称，尽管卸任，他仍可以援引行政特权对其保密。
周二没有迹象表明何时对此事做出裁决。
如果最高法院驳回前总统阻止文件的请求，特朗普可以将此案提交最高法院。
Appeals court picks apart Trump's efforts to withhold Jan. 6 records from Congress
Federal judges questioned whether former PresidentDonald Trumphas the authority to invoke executive privilege during a hearing on Tuesday regarding the former president's efforts to block the release of White House records to the Jan. 6 House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.
The nearly four-hour hearing was at times contentious as a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals picked apart multiple arguments presented by members of Trump's legal team, who argued that therecords requested by Congresswere overbearing and lacked legislative purpose, and that the records should be "designated as privileged and or otherwise restricted under the Presidential Records Act."
The court questioned whether a former president has the power to claim executive privilege after President Joe Biden determined that he will not block the tranche of documents sought by the House committee's investigation, claiming it is in the best interest of the United States for the documents to be handed over.
"We can't think of any other situation in which the former president gets to make that call," Judge Patricia A. Millett said.
"Why is it that the former president is the one who gets to decide whether or not the statutory criteria for the appropriate legislative request is satisfied?" Millett added.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson asked Trump's attorney, "Who decides when it's in the best interest of the United States to disclose presidential records? Is it the current occupant of the White House or the former?"
House General Counsel Douglas Letter argued that the current president is in the best position to weigh in on executive privilege in relation to national interest.
"It is the current president is in the best position, best by far, to determine what is in the interests of the executive branch at that time," Letter said.
Trump attorney Justin Clark, who also served in a senior role on the former president's reelection campaign, argued that Trump could sue to stop a current president from using a previous administration's records and that it could be up to the courts to decide regarding executive privilege.
In one heated moment, Judge Millett appeared to get irritated with Clark as he pushed back on the nature of executive privilege.
"Stop, please stop," Millett told Clark as Clark again sought to explain the executive privilege doctrine.
In August, the Jan. 6 committee requested documents from Trump's White House currently held in the National Archives, including White House call and visitor logs, emails and notes dating back to the lead-up to the insurrection. Trumppromptly sued, demanding that the records be blocked from release and arguing that, despite leaving office, he could still invoke executive privilege to keep them secret.
No indication was made on Tuesday regarding when to expect a ruling on the matter.
Trump could bring the case to the Supreme Court if the court were to reject the former president's request to block the documents.
