Biden Orders Release of Trump White House Logs to Congress

February 16, 2022by Colleen Long, Associated Press
Biden Orders Release of Trump White House Logs to Congress
President Donald Trump holds up papers as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 20, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is ordering the release of Trump White House visitor logs to the House committee investigating the riot of Jan. 6, 2021, once more rejecting former President Donald Trump’s claims of executive privilege.

The committee has sought a trove of data from the National Archives, including presidential records that Trump had fought to keep private. The records being released to Congress are visitor logs showing appointment information for individuals who were allowed to enter the White House on the the day of the insurrection.

In a letter sent Monday to the National Archives, White House counsel Dana Remus said Biden had considered Trump’s claim that because he was president at the time of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the records should remain private, but decided that it was “not in the best interest of the United States” to do so.

She also noted that as a matter of policy, the Biden administration “voluntarily discloses such visitor logs on a monthly basis,” as did the Obama administration, and that the majority of the entries over which Trump asserted the claim would be publicly released under the current policy.

A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

The Presidential Records Act mandates that records made by a sitting president and his staff be preserved in the National Archives, and an outgoing president is responsible for turning over documents to the agency when leaving office. Trump tried but failed to withhold White House documents from the House committee in a dispute that was decided by the Supreme Court.

Biden has already made clear that he is not invoking executive privilege concerning the congressional investigation unless he absolutely must. Biden has waived that privilege for much other information requested by the committee, which is going through the material and obtaining documents and testimony from witnesses, including some uncooperative ones.

The committee is focused on Trump’s actions from Jan. 6, when he waited hours to tell his supporters to stop the violence and leave the Capitol. Investigators are also interested in the organization and financing of a Washington rally the morning of the riot, when Trump told supporters to “fight like hell.” Among the unanswered questions is how close organizers of the rally coordinated with White House officials.

Investigators also are seeking communications between the National Archives and Trump’s aides about 15 boxes of records that the agency recovered from Trump at his Florida resort and are trying to learn what they contained.

Meanwhile, White House call logs obtained so far by the House committee do not list calls made by Trump as he watched the violence unfold on television on Jan. 6, nor do they list calls made directly to the president.

That lack of information about Trump’s personal calls is a particular challenge as the investigators work to discern what happened what the then-president was doing in the White House as supporters violently beat police, broke into the Capitol and interrupted the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

There are several possible explanations for omissions in the records, which do not reflect conversations that Trump had on Jan. 6 with multiple Republican lawmakers, for example. Trump was known to use a personal cell phone or he could have had a phone passed to him by an aide. The committee is also continuing to receive records from the National Archives and other sources, which could produce additional information.

___

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.

A+
a-
  • Donald Trump
  • Jan. 6 Commission
  • Joe Biden
  • National Archives
  • Presidential Records Act
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Political News

    March 28, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Elections Task Force Prosecutes 2020 ‘Vigilantes,’ Seeks More Civic Dialogue

    PHOENIX, Ariz. — A 46-year-old Ohio man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for sending death threats to... Read More

    PHOENIX, Ariz. — A 46-year-old Ohio man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for sending death threats to an Arizona election official. The sentencing of Joshua Russell, of Bucyrus, Ohio, came after he pleaded guilty to one count of making a threatening interstate communication.... Read More

    March 28, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Vice President Harris Rolls Out First Government-Wide Policy to Mitigate AI Risks

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday rolled out the Biden administration’s first government-wide policy intended to mitigate the... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday rolled out the Biden administration’s first government-wide policy intended to mitigate the risks associated with artificial intelligence while still enabling its use to advance the public interest. The new policy, which is being issued through the White House... Read More

    March 27, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    New Dem Chair Kuster Announces Retirement Following 2024 Election

    CONCORD, N.H. — Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., who, among other things, is the current chair of the New Democrat Coalition... Read More

    CONCORD, N.H. — Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., who, among other things, is the current chair of the New Democrat Coalition in the House, revealed Wednesday that she will not seek reelection to Congress this year. In a lengthy statement released by her office, Kuster gives no... Read More

    March 25, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    CPAC Releases Ranking of Most Conservative Members of Congress

    WASHINGTON — The Conservative Political Action Conference, also known as CPAC, on Monday released its annual ranking of members of... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Conservative Political Action Conference, also known as CPAC, on Monday released its annual ranking of members of the House and Senate based on their conservative bona fides or lack thereof. To produce this year’s scorecard, the CPAC foundation’s Center for Legislative Accountability analyzed... Read More

    March 22, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    After a Decade on Capitol Hill, Brad Howard Steps Out on His Own

    WASHINGTON — After a decade on Capitol Hill, most recently as chief of staff for former Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.,... Read More

    WASHINGTON — After a decade on Capitol Hill, most recently as chief of staff for former Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., and communications director of the Blue Dog Coalition, Brad Howard knew it was time for change. “It was time to move into the private sector,” he... Read More

    March 22, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Greene Files Motion to Vacate Speaker’s Chair

    WASHINGTON — For the second time in five months, a member of the Republican Conference in the House has filed... Read More

    WASHINGTON — For the second time in five months, a member of the Republican Conference in the House has filed a motion to vacate the chair of the party’s speaker. But this time, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., says the motion is intended merely as a... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top