Obama-era acting solicitor general says Trump is 'destroying' executive privilege and should be impeached

Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general under President Barack Obama, joined ABC’s "Powerhouse Politics" podcast, predicting that President Donald Trump's aggressive use of executive privilege will ultimately lead the courts to significantly limit those powers.

"You know, what Trump is doing is destroying [executive privilege]," Katyal told ABC News’ Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein. "He has made it so that claims of executive power look unprincipled, uncalibrated and un-American. And that's because his claims are so broad."

Katyal told the hosts that "good presidents" are more careful when using the privilege, as it could cause the courts to trim it back and "hurt a future president who's going to need it."

"And here, now, you've got a president that claims executive privilege like he's dispensing candy," he said. "It's just left and right."

Trump is currently involved in multiple court cases in which he has used this executive privilege.

On Monday, a federal judge ruled that former White House counsel Donald McGahn must comply with a congressional subpoena to testify. On the same day, the Supreme Court granted Trump’s request for an emergency stay on complying with a congressional subpoena for his financial records.

With the three branches of government interacting so closely, Karl raised a concern regarding executive privilege.

"Depending on where this goes, the legacy of Donald Trump could be to severely narrow this power of executive privilege," Karl said.

Katyal responded, "That’s exactly right."

Klein then jumped in, questioning Katyal on what he thinks the opinion of the court will likely be.

"What is your best handicapping of how the Supreme Court is likely to handle these cases, these critical cases, as they relate to the impeachment inquiry?" Klein asked.

Katyal, who in his career argued before the Supreme Court more times than any other minority lawyer, told the hosts that he suspects the Supreme Court will likely not hear any cases against Trump.

"I suspect that there'll be a pretty good reason for the court to just not take those cases," Katyal said, calling Trump's cases too weak to stand. "The lower courts, I think, have ruled in a pretty narrow, very solid way in saying the information has to be turned over to investigators, and not necessarily to the American public."

These rulings and grants come a week after the House Intelligence Committee finished two weeks of public impeachment hearings and roughly a week before the House Judiciary Committee holds its first impeachment hearing.

But House Democrats have yet to hear from some key witnesses in the impeachment inquiry, including: former National Security Adviser John Bolton, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney or Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"Do [Democrats] have enough to pull the trigger right now, today, go up, move ahead with articles of impeachment?" Klein asked.

Katyal said "they absolutely have enough right now ... to impeach the president and to seek his removal."

Americans are still split on whether the president should be impeached, according a Nov. 26 CNN/SSRS poll. Even after two weeks of public hearings, only 50% of Americans support impeaching and removing the president -- the same level of support seen in CNN's Oct. 22 poll.

"I'm curious your take on how the public appears to have digested all of this," Klein inquired.

"We're at chapter one of this investigation," Katyal responded, though he also said he doesn't believe the American public has made up its mind yet.

He added, "We're still at the very beginning. It's the Senate and the trial in which the eyes of America will really be watching."

Katyal came on the podcast to promote his new book, "IMPEACH: The Case Against Donald Trump," in which he argues there is overwhelming evidence to impeach Trump.

"This is literally why impeachment is in the Constitution," Katyal said. "When you go back to Philadelphia in 1787 and the Founders, why did they put it in? They said they put it in because they're worried about someone, a president who would cheat and seek help from a foreign government, including in his election prospects."

In the now infamous whistleblower complaint, which has been corroborated by witnesses under oath, Trump was directly accused of using the power of the presidency to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.

Powerhouse Politics podcast is a weekly program that posts every Wednesday, and includes headliner interviews and in-depth looks at the people and events shaping U.S. politics. Powerhouse Politics podcast is hosted by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and ABC News Political Director Rick Klein.