Biden blocks Trump's claim of executive privilege over visitor logs
President Biden has rejected another effort from former President Donald Trump to withold White House records from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, CNN reports.
Biden instead directed the National Archives to provide the select committee with the documents they seek, this time including the former administration's White House visitor logs (including those from Jan. 6, 2021). Biden's White House counsel Dana Remus said Trump's logs were not subject to executive privilege, as the former president had claimed, and should be handed over to investigators within 15 days, per The New York Times.
It is unclear what the former administration's logs might reveal to the select committee, CNN notes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In her letter to the Archives, Remus noted that Biden's visitor logs are public, as were former President Barack Obama's. The Trump White House said in April 2017 that such records should remain confidential for matters of national security, which made it "far harder to determine which donors, lobbyists and activists had access" to Trump and his aides, the Times writes.
"The majority of the entries over which the former President has asserted executive privilege would be publicly released under current policy," Remus wrote, per CNN.
Biden has previously rejected Trump's claims of executive privilege relating to other White House documents and records requested by the committee. Trump took the issue to federal court and lost.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Today's political cartoons - February 2, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - Groundhog Day, cryptocurrency, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 sunny-side up cartoons about egg prices
Cartoons Artists take on inflated prices, double standards, and more
By The Week US Published
-
'Swimming in the sky' in northern Brazil
The Week Recommends The pools of Lençóis Maranhenses are clear and blue
By The Week UK Published
-
What is 'impoundment' and how does it work?
The Explainer The Trump administration grabbed at the 'power of the purse' in Congress, using a little-known executive action that could have massive implications for the future
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Extremists embrace Musk's salute as Tesla investors fret
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The tech titan insists his Nazi-reminiscent gesture had nothing to do with fascism, even as white nationalists rally around the fascistic salute.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump says 25% tariffs on Canada, Mexico start Feb. 1
Speed Read The tariffs imposed on America's neighbors could drive up US prices and invite retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump blames diversity, Democrats for DC air tragedy
Speed Read The president suggested that efforts to recruit more diverse air traffic controllers contributed to the deadly air crash
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What's the future of FEMA under Trump?
Today's Big Question The president has lambasted the agency and previously floated disbanding it altogether
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
White House withdraws Trump's spending freeze
Speed Read President Donald Trump's budget office has rescinded a directive that froze trillions of dollars in federal aid and sowed bipartisan chaos
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Born this way
Opinion 'Born here, citizen here' is the essence of Americanism
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Charles Grassley: the senator in charge of Trump's legal agenda
In the Spotlight The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman in charge of Trump's legal agenda
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published