House Democrats demand Jan. 6 MAGA riot documents from White House, FBI and other agencies – forcing Biden team to decide whether to exert executive privilege claims that would shield Donald Trump
- Six committee chairs and three subcommittee chairs signed onto the effort
- They wrote the White House, the FBI, Director of National Intelligence, the Interior Department and other agencies
- Also wrote head of National Archives – which now has control over Trump Administration records
- Comes after Nancy Pelosi’s plan for a bipartisan riot commission has stalled
A group of powerful House committee chairs fired off a sweeping request to the White House and top federal agencies for documents related to the Capitol riot – forcing the Biden Administration to decide whether to make claims that would shield Trump administration conduct.
Signers include some of the same panel chairs, like House Intelligence chair Rep. Adam Schiff and Oversight chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who peppered the Trump administration with document requests, with little success.
Now, they want a raft of federal agencies to hand over documents and information about the weeks leading up to the riot – an event that sparked Trump’s impeachment on ‘incitement of insurrection,’ which resulted in his acquittal in the Senate.
A group of House Democratic committee chairs has written the White House and agency heads seeking documents ‘relating to the counting of the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021, or the potential for demonstrations, violence, or attacks in the National Capital Region on or around January 6, 2021’
They want documents and communications ‘received, prepared, or sent’ by the FBI in connection to the counting of the electoral votes Jan. 6th – on potential for demonstrations or violence. They also seek FBI documents in the aftermath of the riot – amid a public airing of views from a top Justice Department official about whether rioters should be charged with sedition.
A similar request went to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, amid concern about the three hours it took to dispatch National Guard to protect the Capitol Jan. 6th.
The move comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plan for a bipartisan riot commission to investigate the matter has stalled.
They want Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to turn over threat assessments, information reports, and intelligence assessments.
The document requests went to top agency heads who might have information related to the Jan. 6th riot
Lawmakers leading top investigative panels signed it
House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff, who struggled to claw information out of the Trump administration, was among the signers
House Oversight Committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney is also seeking information from government agencies
A request seeks information from the Executive Office of the President
President Joe Biden will have to decide whether to assert privilege claims or hand over information
A letter to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain seeks documents in the Executive Office of the President and Vice President ‘relating to the counting of the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021, or the potential for demonstrations, violence, or attacks in the National Capital Region on or around January 6, 2021.’
The document requests are not in the form of subpoena, and are likely to kick off negotiations between Congress, which went to court to assert its oversight prerogative during the Trump administration, and the Biden-run agencies.
When DailyMail.com asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about documents and information soon after Biden took office, she referred questions to the Archives. Document requests through that agency can take years – although the White House and Congress can order it to turn over information.
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