Enlarge image
Trump supporters on January 6, 2021 in the Capitol: The White House directs the National Archives to release documents
Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Defeat for Donald Trump: US President Joe Biden has again approved the release of documents from the tenure of his predecessor Donald Trump for the investigation of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
In a letter made public on Wednesday, the White House directed the National Archives to release documents requested by the House of Representatives investigative body.
Specifically, it is about records of visitors to the White House on January 6th, when Trump was still in office.
With the letter, Biden again expressly rejected his predecessor's claim to executive privilege.
This is the President's prerogative to keep certain information secret.
Biden has determined that asserting executive privilege in this case is not in the best interests of the United States and therefore not warranted in light of the documentation requested, the letter said.
Trump has long tried to prevent the release of documents to the investigative committee by invoking executive privilege, but failed in court.
Biden had already allowed other documents from the National Archives to be passed on to the committee last year.
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the seat of the US Congress in the capital Washington.
Five people were killed, including a police officer.
Trump had to face impeachment over the attack because he had previously incited his supporters in a speech.
At the end of the trial he was acquitted.
The investigative committee in the House of Representatives is to clarify the background of the attack on the Capitol.
The Republicans, loyal to Trump, have meanwhile punished two prominent internal party critics of the ex-president and described the violent storming of the Capitol in an official document as an act of "legitimate political discourse".
The Conservative Party's National Committee issued a formal reprimand against MPs Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
as/dpa
