MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell said President Trump's announcement Monday that he won't assert executive privilege and thus allow former FBI Director James Comey's upcoming congressional testimony could be the decision that "destroyed his presidency."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders read out a statement to that effect on Monday, and O'Donnell teased the clip as potentially "the beginning of the end."
"The video you're about to see might be the video that we're showing you years from now when we're pinpointing the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency," O'Donnell said.
"The president's power to assert executive privilege is very well established," Sanders said. "However, in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey's scheduled testimony."
Comey, who Trump fired last month, will testify on Thursday in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He is expected to discuss his conversations with Trump, which included the president reportedly asking him to "let go" of the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
O'Donnell said Trump was "politically unwise enough" to fire Comey but "not bold enough to tell that FBI Director to shut up."