President Joe Biden refused to exert executive privilege over Trump administration records and information to prevent them being sought by the select committee investing the Jan. 6th Capitol riot.
On Monday, Biden's White House rejected the former president's invocation of executive privilege for a second time on hundreds of additional pages of Trump administration records.
In a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration, Biden counsel Dana Remus stated that Biden has 'determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified' for two tranches of documents sent to the White House for review last month.
'Accordingly, President Biden does not uphold the former president's assertion of privilege,' Remus wrote.
President Joe Biden has again rejected the former president's invocation of executive privilege on hundreds of additional pages
Trump has claimed communications with aides are protected by executive privilege, a legal doctrine that protects the confidentially of some White House communications. Legal experts have said he cannot lawfully use executive privilege because he is now the former president
The letter reveals that the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol 'deferred' its request for nearly 50 pages of documents as a result of an 'accommodation' process with the Biden White House.
That process allows the White House to protect some records that may be privileged, without formally blocking their release.
The fate of the documents approved for release by the White House will now be decided by the courts.
Former President Donald Trump filed suit earlier this month to try to block the archives from releasing records sought by the House select committee.
Trump has claimed that his communications with aides are protected by executive privilege, a legal doctrine that protects the confidentially of some White House communications. But legal experts have said he cannot lawfully use executive privilege because he is no longer the president.
The committee, pictured, is composed of seven Democrats and two Republicans
The panel has already held former Trump associate Steve Bannon in criminal contempt for defying a subpoena to appear.
A lawyer for Bannon explained how he was not acting in 'defiance' of the subpoena and simply following instructions from Trump's attorney.
'President Trump's counsel stated that they were invoking executive and other privileges and therefore directed us not to produce documents or give testimony that might reveal information President Trump's counsel seeks to legally protect,' Bannon's lawyer stated.
Aside from Bannon, the committee has subpoenaed the organizers of the Stop the Steal rally which took place before Trump supporters headed to the Capitol.
Bannon was a private citizen and no longer working for the White House at time. Pictured 2018
The committee has subpoenaed other officials including former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, Trump former chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and former Defense Department official Kash Patel.
The attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters took place as Congress met to certify Democrat Joe Biden's election victory over Trump, delaying that process for several hours as then-Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress, staff and journalists fled.
More than 640 people face criminal charges stemming from the event.
The attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters took place as Congress met to certify Democrat Joe Biden's election victory over Trump
More than 640 people face criminal charges stemming from the event
Post a Comment