WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Former President Donald Trump says many of his White House records are protected by executive privilege.
But the White House announced Friday that President Joe Biden will allow the National Archives to provide some of those records to the house committee investigating the January 6th riots.
“The President has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not warranted for the first set documents from the Trump White House,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
Psaki says the priority for President Biden is to prevent a repeat of January 6th.
“He believes it to be of the utmost importance for both Congress and the American people to have a complete understanding of the events of that day,” Psaki added.
Under federal law, the former President can ask to withhold sensitive documents, kept by the National Archives, from Congress and the public.
In a statement, Trump said “they are trying once again to use Congress to persecute their political opponents. Their requests are not based in law or reality—it’s just a game to these politicians.”
The White House insists this is not a political issue, but an effort to provide the select committee all of the information it requires. Psaki says this is only one batch of the documents–and each request will be evaluated individually by the White House.
“But this was a uniquely dark day in our democracy. a day that we need to get to the bottom of and that’s important context here as well,” Psaki said.
The National Archives has not issued its own response and the former President and his lawyers are threatening to go to court to stop the transfer.
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