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![handle is hein.presidents/usgvtwht0091 and id is 1 raw text is:
BSFLEXNEK
VIA EMAIL
October 13, 2019
Michael M. Purpura, Esq.
Patrick F. Philbin, Esq.
Deputy Assistants to the President and Deputy Counsels to the President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C.
Dear Messrs. Purpura and Philbin:
I write to follow-up on our telephone conversation on Friday, October 11, 2019. During
that conversation, I confirmed that our client, Dr. Fiona Hill, will attend a transcribed deposition
on October 14 to be taken by the House of Representatives' Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Committee on Oversight and Reform (the
Committees).
As I told you by phone, Dr. Hill is mindful of her legal obligations with regard to any
classified information she possesses or has knowledge of, and she intends to strictly abide by
those obligations.
You also raised the issue of executive privilege. While you represented on the phone call
that the White House does not believe that the entirety of Dr. Hill's testimony is subject to
executive privilege, you noted your position that certain areas of her potential testimony may be
subject to that privilege. The first area consisted of direct communications with the President.
The second area consisted of diplomatic communications, such as meetings with other heads
of state or staffing the President on calls with foreign heads of state. After the call, you sent
us four documents supporting your view.
We have reviewed those documents and are mindful of the discussion therein. We
understand that executive privilege is a qualified privilege that may be overcome by an adequate
showing of need. See, e.g., In re Sealed Case, 121 F.3d 729, 737, 745 (D.C. Cir. 1997). We also
understand that executive privilege likely does not apply to information which is no longer
confidential and has come within the sphere of public knowledge through broad disclosures. See
Nixon v. Sirica, 487 F.2d 700, 761 n. 128 (D.C. Cir. 1973) (Naturally, if a document or a tape is
no longer confidential because it has been made public, it would be nonsense to claim that it is
privileged ..... (quoting Prof. Alexander Bickel, Wretched Tapes (Cont.), N.Y. Times, Aug. 15,
1973, at 37, https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/15/archives/wretched-tapes-cont-wretched-
tapes.html)).
The White House has publicly released the Memorandum of Telephone Conversation of
President Trump's July 25, 2019 phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine. And President
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