National Archives Sends Trump Letter Informing Him It’s Giving Pence’s Records to Jan. 6 Committee

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The National Archives informed former President Donald Trump Tuesday it will turn over documents from former Vice President Mike Pence to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The announcement comes just days after the White House ordered the records released after Trump had attempted to block them by citing executive privilege.

White House counsel Dana Remus informed the National Archives that it must turn over all documents of interest to the committee in a letter.

Remus wrote, “Many of the records as to which the former President has made a claim of privilege in this set of documents, however, were communications concerning the former Vice President’s responsibilities as President of the Senate in certifying the vote of presidential electors on January 6, 2021.”

Because Pence’s relationship with the Senate was separate from the White House, Remus further contended that the former president could not block their release by using executive privilege.

NBC News reported that the National Archives complied with the letter, and sent one of its own to Trump informing him of the decision on Tuesday.

National Archives tells Donald Trump it intends to hand over vice presidential records of Mike Pence to the House Jan. 6 committee. pic.twitter.com/WMUmx1hRct

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 2, 2022

The full letter from Archivist David Ferriero reads as follows:

February 1, 2022

The Honorable Donald J. Trump Dear President Trump:

After consultation with the Counsel to the President and the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, and as instructed by President Biden, I have determined to disclose to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (“Select Committee”) the Vice Presidential records from our December 8, 2021, Notification that you identified as privileged in your letter of January 18, 2022.

Pursuant to President Biden’s subsequent instruction and my authority under 36 C.F.R. 1270.44(g), I will deliver these pages to the Select Committee 30 days after this notification (which is March 3, 2022), unless prohibited by court order.

Production to the Select Committee of the records from the December 8, 2021, notification as to which privilege was not formally asserted in your January 18, 2022, letter is ongoing and will continue until complete.
Sincerely,

DAVID S. FERRIERO Archivist of the United States