White House formally blocks attempt by former President Trump to withhold documents from Congress related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, setting up a legal showdown between the current and former president over executive privilege.
WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday formally blocked an attempt by former President Donald Trump to withhold documents from Congress related to the, setting up a legal showdown between the current and former presidents over executive privilege.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki had telegraphed the move two weeks ago, saying President Joe Biden hadto assert executive privilege related to Jan. 6 requests. But White House officials added that they had not yet done so related to requests from the Select Committee, and would make any determinations on a case-by-case basis.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the National Archives immediately began scouring records in itsissued in August. It has been producing relevant documents both to Trump’s legal representatives and the Biden White House on a regular basis since then. The specific batch of documents in question were initially produced to both parties on Sept. 8.
Trump, in a lengthy statement, sharply criticized the probe and accused Democrats of attempting"to use Congress to persecute their political opponents."Under federal law, former presidents ask the current president to withhold any documents created during previous administrations, which are held by the National Archives. Trump’s next step would be filing a lawsuit against the archives, but he faces long legal odds.
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