White House blocks Trump attempt to withhold documents related to Jan 6
attack
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[October 09, 2021]
By Jan Wolfe
(Reuters) -The White House on Friday
formally blocked an attempt by Donald Trump to withhold documents from
Congress related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol when he was U.S.
president.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden had authorized the
National Archives, a government agency that holds records from Trump's
time in office, to turn over an initial batch of documents requested by
the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the
riot.
“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," Psaki said.
Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that protects the
confidentiality of some communications between White House officials.
Trump said the Biden administration was using the investigation to
undercut his future political prospects.
"This is about using the power of the government to silence 'Trump' and
our Make America Great Again movement, the greatest such achievement of
all time," he said in a statement.
Throngs of Trump supporters stormed the seat of Congress on Jan. 6 in a
failed bid to prevent lawmakers from certifying Democrat Biden's
presidential victory. More than 600 people now face criminal charges
stemming from the event.
The Jan. 6 Select Committee has threatened criminal contempt charges
against Steve Bannon, the longtime Trump adviser who is refusing to
cooperate with the inquiry.
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A mob of supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump climb
through a window they broke as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building
in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
“We will not allow any witness to defy a lawful
subpoena or attempt to run out the clock, and we will swiftly
consider advancing a criminal contempt of Congress referral," said
Representatives Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney, who lead the
committee.
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 the refusal was due to Trump's claim that he can
invoke executive privilege to block Bannon's testimony.
Legal experts have said Trump, as the former president, cannot
lawfully use executive privilege to block subpoenas issued by the
select committee.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe in Wahsington, Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru,
Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Howard Goller
and Sonya Hepinstall)
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