White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that President Joe Biden has waived executive privilege on documents related to the Jan. 6 select committee.
“The president has determined an assertion of executive privilege isn’t warranted for the first set of documents from the Trump White House that have been provided to us by the National Archives,” she said Friday, adding that more sets of documents could be evaluated on a “case-by-case basis.”
Psaki added to reporters at the White House, “What this committee is investigating is not a normal course of government business.”
Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that protects the confidentiality of some communications between White House officials.
Her comments came in response to a reporter’s question whether the White House will authorize the National Archives turn over documents to the House Democrat-led committee.
“The president is dedicated to ensuring that something like that could never happen again, which is why the administration is cooperating with ongoing investigations, including the January 6 select committee to bring to light what happened,” Psaki added.
In a letter to the National Archives from Dana Remus, the White House counsel said that former President Donald Trump using executive “is not in the best interests of the United States.”
Meanwhile, the Jan. 6 committee threatened criminal contempt charges against Steve Bannon, the longtime Trump adviser who won’t comply with the subpoena. Bannon on Thursday told the committee he would not comply with a subpoena it issued last month.
A lawyer for Bannon, Robert Costello, said in a letter to the committee that Bannon would refuse to comply because of Trump’s argument that he can invoke executive privilege to block Bannon’s testimony.
Trump has not formally sought to invoke executive privilege over the documents. The former president also has not attempted to try and take legal action over their release.
On Wednesday, Trump praised former Vice President Mike Pence after his former second-in-command downplayed the Jan. 6 incident as the House committee investigates.
“I can tell you that we parted amicably at the end of the administration, and we’ve talked a number of times since we both left office,” Pence said in a Fox News interview earlier this week, adding that the media and committee are trying to “distract from the Biden administration’s failed agenda by focusing on one day in January.”
And in a statement, Trump said Pence’s comment “destroys and discredits the Unselect Committees Witch Hunt on the events of January 6th,” referring to the committee.
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“The president has determined an assertion of executive privilege isn’t warranted for the first set of documents from the Trump White House that have been provided to us by the National Archives,” she said Friday, adding that more sets of documents could be evaluated on a “case-by-case basis.”
Psaki added to reporters at the White House, “What this committee is investigating is not a normal course of government business.”
Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that protects the confidentiality of some communications between White House officials.
Her comments came in response to a reporter’s question whether the White House will authorize the National Archives turn over documents to the House Democrat-led committee.
“The president is dedicated to ensuring that something like that could never happen again, which is why the administration is cooperating with ongoing investigations, including the January 6 select committee to bring to light what happened,” Psaki added.
In a letter to the National Archives from Dana Remus, the White House counsel said that former President Donald Trump using executive “is not in the best interests of the United States.”
Meanwhile, the Jan. 6 committee threatened criminal contempt charges against Steve Bannon, the longtime Trump adviser who won’t comply with the subpoena. Bannon on Thursday told the committee he would not comply with a subpoena it issued last month.
A lawyer for Bannon, Robert Costello, said in a letter to the committee that Bannon would refuse to comply because of Trump’s argument that he can invoke executive privilege to block Bannon’s testimony.
Trump has not formally sought to invoke executive privilege over the documents. The former president also has not attempted to try and take legal action over their release.
On Wednesday, Trump praised former Vice President Mike Pence after his former second-in-command downplayed the Jan. 6 incident as the House committee investigates.
“I can tell you that we parted amicably at the end of the administration, and we’ve talked a number of times since we both left office,” Pence said in a Fox News interview earlier this week, adding that the media and committee are trying to “distract from the Biden administration’s failed agenda by focusing on one day in January.”
And in a statement, Trump said Pence’s comment “destroys and discredits the Unselect Committees Witch Hunt on the events of January 6th,” referring to the committee.
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