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Capitol insurrection: Former WH press secretary's binder among documents Donald Trump is trying to withhold from House Committee

Andrea Hanks (White House) / Wikimedia Commons

The House Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has been authorized by the White House to receive documents from the National Archives of Donald Trump’s White House related to January 6. The former president attempted to claim executive privilege once again over more sets of documents, among them the binder of talking points used by his former press secretary.

Politico reports that the National Archives revealed some specific documents and records that the twice-impeached former president is trying to claim executive privilege over. In a court filing revealed Saturday, the list of documents Trump is trying to withhold from the House Committee includes call logs of the former president, notes taken by his aides during meetings, and the binder of talking points by his former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

The one-term Republican president has sought to block 750 pages out of almost 1,600 that were identified by officials involved as related to January 6 and the House Committee’s probe. Hundreds of the pages, according to reporter Kyle Cheney, are from the binders of McEnany that are made up of talking points and statements regarding the 2020 elections. Trump has refused to concede to Joe Biden even to this day.

Trump is also reportedly trying to block the release of “daily presidential diaries, drafts of election-related speeches,” according to Cheney. Other documents include files belonging to the former president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, Trump’s adviser Stephen Miller, and deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin.

“These records all relate to the events on or about January 6 and may assist the Select Committee’s investigation into that day, including what was occurring at the White House immediately before, during, and after the January 6 attack,” said the attorneys representing archivist David Ferriero in a court filing.

The Biden White House has repeatedly rejected Trump’s claims of executive privilege, and many have also dismantled former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s claim of also being protected by executive privilege.

While the Senate has acquitted the former president for the second time over inciting the Capitol insurrection, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner predicted that Trump, conservative lawyer John Eastman, and former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark have already provided the House Committee with enough evidence to charge each of them with sedition. Kirschner added that more proof has yet to come as the investigation continues.

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