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Rh recordings and documents created during his presidency violated either the separation of powers or executive privilege. 433 U.S. at 433–36. Addressing the separation of powers, the Court emphasized that the Administrator of the GSA “is himself an official of the Executive Branch,” and that the GSA’s “career archivists” are likewise “Executive Branch employees.” Id. at 441. The Court rejected the former President’s invocation of privilege against the statutorily required review by the GSA, describing it as an “assertion of a privilege against the very Executive Branch in whose name the privilege is invoked.” Id. at 447–48. The Court explained that the relevant question was whether review by Executive Branch officials within the GSA would “impermissibly interfere with candid communication of views by Presidential advisers.” Id. at 451. And it held that the question was “readily resolved” because the review in question was “a very limited intrusion by personnel in the Executive Branch sensitive to executive branch concerns.” Id.

Additionally, the framework set forth in the PRA and its implementing regulations providing for the assertion of privileges by a former President, including executive privilege, see 44 U.S.C. §§ 2205(2), 2208; 36 C.F.R. § 1270.44(a) and (d), is inapplicable here. First, Plaintiff did not convey the seized materials to NARA as required by the PRA. As such, he cannot now maintain that he has a statutory right to make privilege assertions pursuant to