• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. US & Canada
  4. Biden orders release of Trump White House logs to Congress
US & Canada

Biden orders release of Trump White House logs to Congress

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 16 Feb 2022 21:42

The House committee looking into the violence at the US Capitol on January 6 is looking for details regarding visitors to Trump's White House.

  • Biden orders release of Trump White House logs to Congress
    Biden orders the release of Trump White House visitor logs to Congress.

President Joe Biden has ordered the release of Trump White House visitor logs to a House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 incident, defying former President Donald Trump's claims of executive privilege once again.

The Committee has asked the National Archives for a plethora of information, including presidential records that Trump has battled to keep private. The records being disclosed to Congress include visitor logs that detail who was allowed to enter the White House on the day of the insurgency and when they were authorized to do so.

White House counsel Dana Remus said in a letter to the National Archives on Monday that Biden had considered Trump's claim that the records should be kept private because he was President at the time of the attack on the US Capitol, and maintained that it was "not in the best interest of the United States" to do so.

She also pointed out that the Biden administration, like the Obama administration, "voluntarily distributes such visitor logs on a monthly basis," and that the majority of the entries over which Trump asserted the claim would be made public under current policy. A request for a response from a Trump official was not immediately returned.

See more: Jan. 6: Who do Americans hold responsible?

The Presidential Records Act requires that records created by a sitting president and his staff be preserved in the National Archives, and an outgoing president must turn over the documents to the agency when he or she leaves office. In a case decided by the Supreme Court, Trump attempted but failed to withhold White House papers from a House committee.

Biden has already stated that he will only invoke executive privilege concerning the congressional probe if necessary. Biden has waived that privilege for much of the other information sought by the committee, which is sifting through the records and gathering testimony from witnesses, including those who are being uncooperative.

The Committee is concentrating on Trump's activities since January 6, when he waited hours before telling his supporters to cease the violence and leave the Capitol. Investigators are also looking into the planning and funding of a gathering in Washington on the morning of the violence, during which Trump encouraged supporters to "fight like hell." One of the unresolved topics is how closely rally organizers worked with White House officials.

Trump's possession of White House records 

Investigators are also looking for conversations between the National Archives and Trump's advisors concerning 15 boxes of records found at Trump's Florida club and trying to figure out what they included.

Meanwhile, the White House phone logs received by the House committee thus far do not include any calls made by Trump while watching the carnage develop on television on Jan. 6, nor any calls made directly to the President.

The lack of information about Trump's calls is proving particularly difficult for investigators as they try to figure out what the President was up to in the White House while supporters rioted, broke into the Capitol, and disrupted congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden's election victory.

There are several probable explanations for the omissions in the records, which do not, for example, include Trump's calls with various Republican senators on January 6. Trump was known to use a personal cell phone, or he may have been given one by an aide. The Committee is still receiving records from the National Archives and other sources, which could yield more information.

  • Joe Biden
  • Donald Trump
  • white house
  • Congress

Trending Now

All
Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham

Sen. Graham to challenge Atlanta grand jury subpoena

Most Read

London posts job ad for mercenaries for Ukraine counteroffensive

London posts job ad for mercenaries for Ukraine's counteroffensive

  • Africa
  • 24 May
US seeks to build new military base in Iraq's oil-rich: Sources

US eyes new military base in Iraq's oil-rich region: Sources

  • MENA
  • 23 May
The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

  • Analysis
  • 28 May
The domestically produced C919 passenger jet flies at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Peoeple's Republic of China, 8 November 2022. (Reuters)

China is set to launch first commercial flight on its C919 plane

  • Asia
  • 26 May

Read this

All
Chicago police investigate on the 800 block of South Karlov Avenue in 2022 Memorial Day weekend. (AP)
US & Canada

Chicago weekend marred with fatal shootings; 41 shot, 9 fatally

  • Today
US 'ready to fight' China, Russia in space race using military means
Europe

US 'ready to fight' China, Russia in space race using military means

  • Today
Police officers in London in 2020 (Reuters)
US & Canada

Met police to stop responding to emergency mental health calls: Report

  • Today
DPRK soldiers salute at Mansudae hill in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Reuters)
Asia

DPRK announces satellite launch, Japan skeptic about object's nature

  • Today
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS