Drunk on power Trump lashes out after Biden rejects former presidents appeal to withhold Capitol riot records
After the White House declined Donald Trumpâs request to withhold documents from a congressional committee investigating the Capitol riot, the former president accused Democrats of being âdrunk on powerâ and suggested he would channel legal action to prevent their release.
âThe Democrats are drunk on power, but this dangerous assault on our Constitution and important legal precedent will not work,â he said in a statement on 8 October.
He accused the House Select Committee of leading a âfake investigationâ to use âthe power of the government to silence âTrumpâ and our Make America Great Again movement, the greatest such achievement of all time.â
In a letter to David Ferriero, who acts as records custodian at the National Archives and Records Administration, White House counsel Dana Remus informed Mr Ferriero that President Joe Biden will not uphold Mr Trumpâs request to use his executive privilege to prevent the release of documents requested by the committee.
The president âhas determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States,â according to the letter.
âCongress is examining an assault on our Constitution and democratic institutions provoked and fanned by those sworn to protect them, and the conduct under investigation extends far beyond typical deliberations concerning the proper discharge of the Presidentâs constitutional responsibilities,â the letter states.
Mr Trump has sought to declare blanket executive privilege, despite the fact that he has not been in the White House since 20 January 2021. It appears the former presidentâs strategy is to slow roll the process in hopes of Republicans retaking Congress in 2023.
Mr Trump said that should the committee continue to seek records from the Trump administration, âI will take all necessary and appropriate steps to defend the Office of the Presidency.â
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that the attack on the Capitol on 6 January âposed an existential crisis and a test of whether our democracy could surviveâ.
The attack, fuelled by the former presidentâs persistent false narrative that the results of the 2020 presidential election were âriggedâ against him, was a âunique attack on the foundations of our democracy,â Ms Psaki said.
âThe president is dedicated to ensuring that something like that could never happen again, which is why the administration is cooperating with ongoing investigations,â she said.
In its first wave of document requests, the committee sought extensive records from Trump -era agencies and officials, including call logs, phone records, meeting memos and visitor records from more than 30 former White House staffers, cabinet officials and allies.
Its request also seeks information related to Mr Trumpâs attempts to undermine or disrupt the Electoral College count, and potential efforts to invoke the Insurrection Act, martial law or the 25th amendment to subvert the election and invalidate millions of Americansâ votes.
The committee also asked for communications and documents related to election-related protests and rallies and Mr Trumpâs discussion of election conspiracy theories and attempts to challenge the outcome.
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