Biden
Biden Orders Release of Trump Visitor Logs to the January 6 Committee
President Joe Biden has ordered for the National Archives to submit former President Donald Trump’s White House visitor logs to the House committee that’s currently conducting a probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, despite Trump’s claim of executive privilege.
Penning a letter to the National Archives, counsel to the president Dana Remus stated that Biden is ordering the agency to provide the committee the visitor logs showing White House visitor information for the dates that include the day of the Capitol Riot.
Here's the letter White House counsel Dana Remus sent to the Archives yesterday. https://t.co/QWhdyv5Puxhttps://t.co/Pl1MNDu07l pic.twitter.com/3tb3KktTtQ
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 16, 2022
“President Biden has considered the former President’s claims, and I have engaged in consultations with the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice,” Remus stated in the letter. “The President has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified, as to these records and portions of records.”
It also notes that Biden’s administration, similar to the Obama administration, “voluntarily discloses” records such as this one every month and that the current disclosure policy in place would cover almost every record Trump is trying to keep hidden.
“As practice under that policy demonstrates, preserving the confidentiality of this type of record generally is not necessary to protect long-term institutional interests of the Executive Branch,” her letter went on to say, adding that “[a]ccordingly, President Biden does not uphold the former President’s assertions of privilege.”
The president is now instructing the National Archives to release these logs 15 days following their notice to Trump unless a court order blocks this.
Biden will turn over Trump's visitor logs to Nancy Pelosi rump committee but continues to hide his own visitor logs…. https://t.co/E6aGgJCbQH
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 16, 2022
The said record will not automatically be made public. Even if they are to be submitted to the committee, they will still be deemed confidential as “national-security sensitive” or “otherwise-highly sensitive.” Additionally, the committee will not have permission to share them with no advance consultation. Personal information, including birth dates and social security numbers, are to be redacted as well.
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