The Trump administration has formally invoked presidential communications privilege to withhold documents and block testimony about the president’s involvement in the Kennedy Center’s management, escalating a legal fight over the performing arts institution’s planned two-year closure.
The court filing Wednesday by Deputy White House Counsel Joshua Hoyt asserted the privilege covered communications between Trump, his advisers and Kennedy Center staff about the institution’s management and operations.
The declaration specifically identifies requests for documents, written answers and deposition testimony that the administration says could reveal presidential decision-making. It also covers some communications involving Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has been involved in discussions related to the Kennedy Center.
The filing comes after Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, challenged the administration’s earlier objections to producing evidence in the case.
Trending
Beatty is seeking information as she fights the board’s decision to close the center’s main building for two years to conduct renovations. She has argued that the discovery is necessary to understand the board’s decision-making and whether it fulfilled its legal obligations.
The administration, in its response last week to Beatty’s motion to compel, urged U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to reject her request, arguing that she has already received more than enough evidence to challenge the closure.
“The record as it stands” provides enough evidence for the court to uphold the board’s decision and grant summary judgment to the administration, the Wednesday filing said.
The dispute over privilege has surfaced during depositions, including the questioning of Matt Floca, the executive director for the Kennedy Center, who testified on the institution’s behalf on Oct. 7.
During that deposition, Beatty’s attorney questioned Floca about Trump’s public statements tying the planned renovation to the outcome of a separate legal fight over the center’s renaming.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sept. 15 that the renovation and reconstruction would not take place if the D.C. Circuit ruled against the board’s approved name change and the decision was not overturned by the Supreme Court.
Asked whether anyone at the center had discussed Trump’s statement with him, Floca’s attorney objected on executive privilege grounds and instructed him not to answer.
Floca had testified that the center takes direction through board resolutions or committee guidance. Asked whether Trump could direct management to delay renovations without board approval, Floca said the center responds to the board and that such an instruction would need to be formalized through a resolution.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Floca said when asked whether the center anticipated Trump might direct or suggest that renovations should not proceed until he received the recognition he sought.
The administration’s declaration seeks to protect communications that could explain how Trump’s public statements intersected with private discussions among his advisers and Kennedy Center staff.
Hoyt argued that the president’s role in appointing the center’s trustees and members of its Advisory Committee on the Arts required him to remain informed about the institution’s management, operations and performance. He said the communications at issue were intended to remain confidential and that disclosure could discourage advisers from providing candid recommendations.
Beatty’s legal team has challenged whether executive privilege can be used so broadly in a dispute concerning the Kennedy Center board’s responsibilities. The administration countered that the president’s official duties extend to statutory responsibilities involving the center and that the privilege can cover communications with advisers outside the White House, including private advisers.
The administration also argued that Beatty has not demonstrated a sufficient need for the protected material. The remaining issue in the case, it said, is whether the board had sufficient basis to vote to temporarily close the center for repairs and renovations — a question that could be answered using the materials presented to the board before its votes.
The filing said Beatty has already received more than 7,500 pages of documents, participated in five depositions and obtained responses to 44 requests for admission.
Cooper previously blocked the board’s initial plan to close the Kennedy Center. Since then, both sides have quickly gathered evidence as the administration asks the judge to lift the preliminary injunction and rule in its favor without a trial.
Author
