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(CNN)President Joe Biden has once again refused to assert executive privilege over more documents that former President Donald Trump has sought to keep out of the hands of the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
According to a letter obtained by CNN, White House counsel Dana Remus informed National Archivist David Ferriero on Monday that Biden would not assert privilege over additional materials that Trump requested remain secret as a matter of executive privilege. The former President has filed a lawsuit to block a separate tranche of documents being released to the committee and may add these documents to that lawsuit.
“President Biden has considered the former President’s assertion, and I have engaged in consultations with the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice,” Remus wrote.
“President Biden 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 the documents provided to the White House on September 16, 2021, and September 23, 2021. Accordingly, President Biden does not uphold the former President’s assertion of privilege.”
Remus quoted her earlier letter to the National Archives highlighting the “extraordinary events” that day. The top White House lawyer also noted that Biden instructs the National Archives to provide the documents to the committee 30 days after notifying Trump, “absent any intervening court order.”
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/politics/executive-privilege-donald-trump-joe-biden/index.html