Politico | Joe Biden won’t invoke executive privilege to shield Donald Trump’s White House records from January 6 committee
- The National Archives has identified hundreds of pages of relevant documents, which will be sent to Biden and Trump lawyers
- A White House spokeswoman said the former president’s team has not reached out to suggest protecting any of the records
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Myah Ward on politico.com on September 24, 2021.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the Trump administration has not reached out to suggest protecting any of the records and that they do not have regular communication with former president Donald Trump or his team.
“I would say that we take this matter incredibly seriously. The president already concluded that it would not be appropriate to assert executive privilege,” Psaki said.
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“And so, we will respond promptly to these questions as they arise. And certainly, as they come up from Congress, and certainly we have been working closely with congressional committees and others as they work to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6.”
The White House has been considering releasing the information to Congress about what Trump and his aides were doing during the January 6 attacks, according to The Washington Post, which first reported Biden's thinking on Thursday night.
Trump has said he will cite “executive privilege” to block the committee’s requests, seeking protection from a legal theory that has allowed past presidents and their aides to avoid or delay congressional oversight for decades.
But Biden on Thursday was already leaning toward releasing the material for use, given the weight of January 6 and what it meant for American democracy.
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The House panel, which is examining whether the White House or Trump allies tried to delay the certification of the presidential election, sent a letter to the National Archives on August 25, requesting any documents and communications within the White House on January 6 that relate to the insurrection.
The National Archives has identified hundreds of pages of relevant documents, which will be sent to Biden and Trump lawyers, as required by statute.
Once the documents are delivered, Trump has 30 days to approve or deny the release, according to the statute. If Trump decides to object, Biden can still turn the material over, since his White House has the final say on the matter.
Read Politico’s story.
