Ene. 6 committee: Biden White House denies Trump’s further executive privilege claims

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According to a letter obtained by CNN, White House counsel Dana Remus informed National Archivist David Ferriero on Monday that Biden would not claim privilege on additional materials that Trump requested to remain confidential as a matter of executive privilege. The former President has already filed a lawsuit to restrain the National Archives, the custodian of his administration’s White House records, from providing documents to Congress that he believes are privileged, and the latest documents are likely to be part of that lawsuit. The National Archives is set to begin returning the records to the House on Nov. 12, unless Trump gets a court order.

“President Biden considered the former President’s statement, and I spoke with the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice,” Remus wrote.

“President Biden determined that the assertion of executive privilege was not in the best interests of the United States, and was therefore unreasonable, regarding the documents provided to the White House on September 16, 2021, and September 23, 2021. Accordingly , President Biden does not support the assertion of the former President’s privilege. “

Remus quoted his earlier letter to the National Archives highlighting the “extraordinary events” of the day. The top White House attorney also noted that Biden ordered the National Archives to provide the documents to the committee 30 days after notifying Trump, “not in any intervening court order.”

The White House informed the National Archives earlier this month that it would not assert executive privilege in a preliminary batch of documents requested by the committee on Jan. 6.

At a news briefing at the White House at the time, press secretary Jen Psaki said that “the President determined that the assertion of executive privilege was not necessary for the first set of documents from the Trump White House given to us by National Archives. “

“As we’ve said previously, this will be an ongoing process and this is just the first set of documents,” she said. “And we will review the questions of privilege on a case-by-case basis, but the President is also clear that he believes it is paramount for both Congress and Americans to have a complete understanding of the events. of that day to prevent them from happening again. “

As part of the House select committee’s extensive investigation, the panel sent requests for information to several federal agencies. The committee specifically requested “all documents and communications within the White House” on Jan. 6, including call logs, schedules and meetings with top officials and outside advisers, including Rudy Giuliani.

Legal experts say Biden has the highest decision on whether these documents are covered by executive privilege, and considering the committee is headed by members of Biden’s party, Trump has the power to change the outcome. is an open question.

This story was updated with more details on Monday.

CNN’s Evan Perez, Zachary Cohen and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

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