Headline Roundup • October 8th, 2021
Biden Waives Executive Privilege on Some Jan. 6 Documents
White House,Joe Biden,Donald Trump,Capitol Chaos,January 6,US House,Steve Bannon,Mark Meadows,Politics
Summary from the AllSides News Team
President Joe Biden waived executive privilege on the first set of documents requested by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced Friday. In doing so, Biden rejected a request by former President Donald Trump to withhold the documents under executive privilege, setting up a potential legal battle. In a letter to the National Archives, which currently possesses the documents, White House Counsel Dana Remus argued that executive privilege "should not be used to shield, from Congress or the public, information that reflects a clear and apparent effort to subvert the Constitution itself.” Also on Friday, it was reported that former Trump adviser Steve Bannon would defy the House committee’s subpoena, while former Trump aides Mark Meadows and Kash Patel were engaging with the committee.
Coverage was more prominently featured in left- and center-rated outlets on Friday. Coverage differed on describing Biden’s move as a standalone decision or as a rejection of Trump’s request to withhold the documents.
Featured Coverage of this Story
John Minchillo/AP
The White House is authorizing the National Archives to share a set of documents with the Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.
Former President Donald Trump has said he plans to fight subpoenas from the panel for four former officials in his administration by using executive privilege, which is a right traditionally asserted by a White House to keep deliberations confidential.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters
President Biden rejected former president Donald Trump’s request to block documents from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the White House said on Friday, likely setting up a legal and political battle.
Trump has claimed executive privilege in seeking to evade the committee’s demands for details about Trump and his aides’ activities during the Jan. 6 attack. But in the letter to the National Archives and Records Administration, the White House said Biden “determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests...
The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden has waived executive privilege on an initial set of documents produced at the request of the Jan. 6 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,” press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.
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