As of: 09.10.2021 10:15 a.m.
The storm of angry Trump supporters on the Capitol is considered a particularly dark chapter in US history. Trump is trying to block the reappraisal by a U-Committee. At the moment it is mainly about the release of files.
US President Joe Biden has approved the transfer of files in connection with the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 to a parliamentary committee of inquiry – much to the displeasure of his predecessor Donald Trump. According to his own statements, he wrote to the national archives on Friday to prevent documents such as minutes of meetings, e-mails and communications from the last few weeks of his term of office from being handed over to the congressional committee of inquiry.
Trump had invoked the so-called executive privilege. This allows a president to keep certain documents secret. However, legal experts disagree on whether the privilege also applies to a former president. Biden declined to assert the right on Trump’s behalf.
Party political disputes
Supporters of Trump stormed the seat of the US Congress in Washington on January 6th, in order to prevent the formal certification of Biden’s election victory. Five people were killed. Trump had to face impeachment proceedings because of the attack because he had previously incited his supporters in a speech. The election victory of the Democrat Biden, which has been confirmed by a number of courts, is still not recognized by the Republican Trump.
However, at the end of the impeachment process, Trump was acquitted. The committee in the US House of Representatives is to investigate the background to the attack on the Capitol. The establishment of the investigative body has already been the subject of fierce partisan clashes between Democrats and Republicans.
Government cooperates with the committee
Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Democrat’s government was cooperating with the committee. The committee had requested documents to investigate the Capitol attack from the National Archives. There is a procedure in which the former president has a deadline to exercise executive privilege, said Psaki. The current president then has a deadline to consider this application. For a first set of documents, Biden had come to the conclusion that confidentiality could not be invoked.
“We believe that there is nothing political about ensuring that the events of January 6th do not happen again,” said Psaki. You will now make new decisions every time you ask for relevant documents.
Trump puts pressure on confidants in a letter
Trump reacted angrily and accused the Democrats of using Congress to persecute political opponents. These wanted to silence his movement. He won’t be intimidated.
There had previously been reports that Trump was trying to prevent former confidants from testifying before the congressional committee of inquiry. In a letter, which is available to the “Politico” portal and the “Washington Post”, among others, a Trump attorney asks the men not to cooperate with the committee.
The committee had summoned former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, then Chief of Staff of the White House, Mark Meadows, Trump’s social media chief Dan Scavino and a former Defense Department official for mid-October. Certain documents were also requested from the four men. The letter from Trump’s attorney also stated that these documents would come under executive privilege. Trump is ready to defend this right in court.