The Justice Department, speaking for the White House, has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from a former national security official over whether he should testify under House subpoena.

The new filing is the first time the administration had formally taken a position in this lawsuit after former administration official Charles Kupperman sued, claiming he was torn between his House impeachment inquiry subpoena and the White House’s assertion of immunity. He still has not testified.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) calls the House subpoena power a “grave threat” to the confidentiality of the presidency in the filing tonight.

“Dr. Charles Kupperman seeks an opinion from this Court on whether the President’s senior-most advisors share the President’s absolute immunity from testimonial compulsion by Congress. Although the answer to that critical question is undoubtedly ‘yes,’ Dr. Kupperman has no business asking this Court to answer it," the DOJ said.

Kupperman, in this case, has been widely considered a stand in for former national security adviser John Bolton, and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney late last week tried to join Kupperman’s lawsuit, before ducking out of it.

The lawsuit is not expected to be resolved until, at earliest, after a mid-December court hearing. At this point, the White House is aligned with the House in its ultimate goal of dismissing the case.