WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's team told former White House counsel Don McGahn on Tuesday not to provide any records to Congress, a sign that it may invoke executive privilege to block his testimony.

In a letter to McGahn's attorney that is sure to provoke a fight with Congress, current White House counsel Pat Cipollone said McGahn was working on the president's behalf during special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference.

"The White House records remain legally protected from disclosure under longstanding constitutional principles because they implicate significant Executive Branch confidentiality interests and executive privilege," said the letter to McGahn lawyer William Burck.

Cipollone sent a similarly worded letter to Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asking him to redirect McGahn document requests to the White House. The letter also suggested officials would be willing to negotiate the release of some documents.

Nadler has argued that the White House lacks the authority to block production of McGahn's records.

The Democratic-led House committee issued a subpoena last month for McGahn's records, seeking his testimony to Mueller about whether Trump took steps to obstruct the Russia investigation that shadowed the first two years of his presidency.

The White House did not actually invoke executive privilege with its series of letters. Only Trump himself can actually claim executive privilege, and must sign a formal document in order to do so.

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In his letter to Nadler, Burck said his client McGahn would stand pat while the committee and the White House negotiate what to do with the records.

"Where co-equal branches of government are making contradictory demands on Mr. McGahn concerning the same set of documents, the appropriate response for Mr. McGhahn is to maintain the status quo unless and until the Committee and the Executive Branch can reach an accommodation," the letter said.

Trump has objected to the idea of having McGahn or Mueller testify before Congress, saying the investigation is over and that it found no collusion between his campaign and Russians who meddled in the 2016 election. Trump has also denied allegations he sought to obstruct justice in the investigation.

The administration has also sought to block production of other documents sought by Congress in various investigations, a list that includes Trump's tax returns.

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