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“The effect of this decision may be limited,” Remus wrote. The determination on the documents only applied to a set of documents provided to the White House on September 8, and Remus wrote: “We continue to review the documents you provided to the White House after that date and we will respond at the appropriate time.
Biden’s decision triggers a window of at least 30 days for Trump to challenge the decision in court before the National Archives forward them to the Jan. 6 panel, experts told POLITICO. This reflects a similar decision by Biden and his DOJ earlier this year to waive privilege and allow former Trump DOJ officials to testify before congressional committees about the former president’s attempt to overthrow the 2020 elections.
In a Friday letter to Ferriero obtained by POLITICO, Trump said the documents sought by the committee would contain information protected by “executive and other privileges, including, but not limited to, presidential communications, the process. deliberative and attorney-client privileges “.
Trump, in a letter to the National Archives on Friday, said he wanted to assert his privilege on 45 specific documents identified by the National Archives as responding to the committee’s request. Those documents, Trump said in the two-page letter, included protected “presidential communications”, as well as documents relating to the deliberative process and privileged attorney-client documents.
Trump has also indicated that he wants to preemptively declare future panel requests as allegedly banned from publication.
“If the committee persists in seeking further inside information, I will take all necessary and appropriate steps to defend the office of the presidency,” Trump wrote.
The White House statement comes after the House selection panel investigating the attack announced that two close allies of former President Donald Trump – former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and the former Pentagon aide Kash Patel – were in the process of “engaging with” their subpoenas, the two top lawmakers said on Friday.
Panel Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) And Vice-Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) Confirmed in a statement that the two Trump associates have been in contact with the panel. Thompson and Cheney also threatened with criminal contempt former Trump campaign leader Steve Bannon, who told the committee he would not cooperate with their investigation into the Jan.6 attack on the Capitol.
“While the select committee welcomes the good faith engagement with witnesses seeking to cooperate with our investigation, we will not allow any witnesses to defy a legal subpoena or attempt to miss the allotted time, and we will promptly consider d ” advance criminal contempt of referral to Congress. “said Thompson and Cheney.
Bannon attorney Robert Costello told the committee Thursday that Bannon would refuse to comply due to Trump’s claim that he can invoke executive privilege to block Bannon’s testimony.
“Until these issues are resolved, we will not be able to respond to your request for documents and testimony,” Costello wrote to the Jan. 6 committee. Costello’s letter was first reported by The New York Times; POLITICO reported Thursday that Trump had asked Bannon and other former aides subpoenaed by the select panel not to comply with lawmakers’ demands.
This is a questionable claim by Bannon’s lawyer, as Trump’s ex-aide had been away from the White House for years by the time the former president’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election – the subject of committee assignment – started in earnest. Executive privilege is usually reserved for advisers closest to a president and is not meant to be a broad shield for requests for testimony.
Any decision by the Jan. 6 committee to detain a criminal contempt witness would first require the panel to vote on a contempt resolution. This resolution would then be transferred to the House for a vote.
The select panel investigating the insurgency of Trump supporters had subpoenaed four former aides to the former president: former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, longtime Trump adviser Dan Scavino, the former Pentagon aide to Trump Kash Patel and Bannon. All have been asked to provide documents by Thursday, and the panel is also looking to drop the four men next week.
A Meadows lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment on the summons delay.
Patel said in a statement Thursday that “I will continue to speak the truth to the American people on January 6, and put our country and our freedoms first through my Fight with Kash initiative.”
The Jan. 6 committee declined to comment on the status of his subpoena to Scavino, which was not mentioned in Thompson and Cheney’s statement.
If one of the quartets does not comply, the committee could seek references for criminal contempt, which would force the House to take a full vote when it returns to session later this month. This decision, if made, would send the case to the Justice Department for review. It is not clear whether the DOJ would act quickly on the potential dismissals, but members of the Jan. 6 panel expressed hope that the Biden administration would act urgently.
Next week’s deadline for depositions from former Trump aides subpoenaed would be more important, according to sources close to the committee, given that the quartet still have time to comply. If they don’t show up in the coming weeks, the committee could meet to consider a referral, then vote and send it to the entire House for consideration.
Representative Thompson said he wanted to complete his investigation by the spring. This deadline, if the nine-member bipartisan panel wants to stick to it, does not allow for long legal battles for the execution of subpoenas or prosecutions against recalcitrant witnesses.
Heather Caygle and Natasha Korecki contributed to this report
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