CBS News Reporter Asks Psaki If White House Not Waiving Executive Privilege for Jan. 6 Witnesses Is Opening ‘a Pandora’s Box’

CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday if the White House declining to assert executive privilege for witnesses subpoenaed before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol could be “opening potentially a Pandora’s box.”

“Has there been any concern or conversation about what might happen one day when the shoe’s on the other foot and the other party says there’s an extraordinary circumstance and they want to hand over documents that were deemed privileged by the Biden administration,” asked O’Keefe during the White House press briefing.

“I can assure you, Ed, that this president has no intention to lead an insurrection on our nation’s Capitol,” said Pskai.

O’Keefe contended, “You can understand that you’re opening potentially a Pandora’s box here.”

Psaki responded:

Actually, we don’t see it that way. I understand why you’re asking this question. We talked about this a little bit last week as well. I think it is ultimately important for people to understand and remember that Jan. 6 was an incredibly dark day, one of the darkest days in our democracy. There was an insurrection on the nation’s Capitol.

What we’re talking about here is getting to the bottom of that. Shouldn’t everybody want to get to the bottom of that? Democrats, Republicans, people who have no political affiliation whatsoever.

I will reiterate that we’re going to assess and review, as is standard in the process, the documents and any efforts to exert executive privilege on a case-by-case basis. We’ll update you as the processes proceed and we will continue, as it relates to executive privileges for other issues, to evaluate that on a case by case basis as every White House has in the past.

But I think if you look back at past presidents, Democratic and Republican, there really isn’t a precedent for what we’re talking about with this select committee and what they’re trying to get to the bottom of. The uniqueness of that, I think, is important context.

Watch above, via Fox News.