JAKARTA - President Joe Biden has once again refused to assert executive privilege over more documents that former President Donald Trump tried to keep out of the hands of the committee investigating the January 6 attacks on the Capitol Building, Washington DC.
According to a letter obtained by CNN, White House counsel Dana Remus told National Archives Chief David Ferriero on Monday that President Joe Biden would not assert the privilege of additional material that Donald Trump requested to remain secret as an executive privilege matter.
Donald Trump is known to have filed a lawsuit to prevent the National Archives from providing the US Congress with documents he believes have the privilege, with the latest documents likely to be part of the lawsuit. The National Archives will begin submitting records to the House on November 12, unless Trump gets a court order.
"President Biden has considered the former President's statements, and I have consulted with the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice," Remus wrote, citing CNN October 26.
"President Biden has determined that the statement of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States of America, and is therefore not justified, for documents presented to the White House on September 16, 2021, and September 23, 2021. Therefore, President Biden does not endorse the statement privileges of the former President," she continued.
Remus cited his earlier letter to the National Archives highlighting the day's 'extraordinary events'. The top White House attorney also noted that President Biden instructed the National Archives to provide documents to the committee 30 days after notifying Donald Trump, "no court order intervenes."
The White House told the National Archives earlier this month it would not assert executive privilege on the initial batch of documents requested by the January 6 committee.
During a White House press conference at the time, press secretary Jen Psaki said, "The president has determined that a statement of executive privilege is not guaranteed for the first batch of documents from the Trump White House, which have been provided to us by the National Archives."
"As we said before, this will be an ongoing process and this is only the first set of documents," said Psaki.
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"And we will evaluate the question of privilege on a case-by-case basis, but the President has also made it clear he believes it is very important for Congress and the American people to have a complete understanding of the events of that day to prevent that from happening again".
As part of a thorough investigation by the US House election committee, the panel has sent requests for information to a number of federal agencies. The Committee specifically requested 'all documents and communications within the White House on January 6, including call logs, schedules, and meetings with top officials and outside advisers, including Rudy Giuliani.
To note, legal experts say President Biden has the final say on whether these documents are protected by executive privilege, and given that the committee is chaired by members of President Joe Biden's party, Donald Trump's power to influence the outcome is an open question.
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