In a notable break from his prior stance on executive privilege, President Joe Biden and White House officials are reportedly leaning towards providing Congress with information on Donald Trump and his aides’ actions during the January 6 on the U.S. Capitol building. The attack occurred after Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally where he encouraged his MAGA supporters to “fight like hell” moments before they breached the Capitol in an attempt to stop the 2020 election results from being certified. There were also reports of intruders wielding zipties and rope while searching for the location of Vice President Mike Pence along with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
As for why the White House is moving towards releasing the info, the select committee has been effectively arguing that Trump shouldn’t be protected now that he’s out of office. Via Washington Post:
Members of the investigative committee argue that Trump no longer enjoys the protection of executive privilege, encouraging the White House to push aside institutional concerns about sharing information with Congress and aid the panel in an investigation focused on what Democrats and a handful of Republicans have called an assault on democracy.
“It’s not really relevant because there’s no president involved — there’s no such thing as a former president’s executive privilege,” said Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), a committee member who teaches constitutional law. “That’s extremely dilute and not really relevant.”
According to Biden spokesman Michael Gwin, the president considers the attack on the Capitol to be a “dark stain on our country’s history,” and he’s willing to ignore Trump’s specious claim of executive privilege to prevent a similar event from happening again.
(Via Washington Post)