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April 28 (UPI) -- The National Archives is set to release a new tranche of documents to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. President Joe Biden declined to assert executive privilege over the records, allowing them to be turned over to the committee.
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Archivist David Ferriero explained Biden's decision in a letter to former President Donald Trump, who's previously attempted to a block the committee from receiving records from his administration related to the Capitol attack by radical supporters.
It was not immediately clear precisely what documents are included in the batch that will be sent to committee investigators on Thursday.
"The president has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified," Dana Remus, Biden's White House counsel, wrote in a separate letter to Ferriero notifying the National Archives of the decision.
The committee has received hundreds of pages of documents from the National Archives related to its Jan. 6 investigation and was permitted to review schedules, phone logs, emails and other requested items in connection with the attack after the Supreme Court rejected Trump's request to block them.
In his letter, Remus noted that Biden's administration had "reached an accommodation" with the committee to prioritize documents "related to certain custodians" in the latest tranche of records.
Prior to the last release, the House Jan. 6 committee agreed to defer requests for certain records after Biden's White House determined that many of the documents did not pertain to the Capitol attack or involve deliberations by the National Security Council, potentially setting a precedent that could compromise presidential decision-making.
The National Archives has also confirmed that Trump took classified information from the White House to his Florida property Mar-a-Lago after leaving office and that he'd torn up documents that, by law, should have been preserved during his time in office. The move left records management analysts with the task of putting them back together with clear tape.
The committee is investigating the attack at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during which Trump supporters attempted to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's election victory two months earlier. Serious damage was done to the Capitol building and the attack resulted in multiple deaths, including U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.
The panel is examining Trump's role in the assault -- primarily his "Save America" rally immediately beforehand and his actions in the White House once the attack had begun. At the rally, Trump implored supporters in attendance to go over to the Capitol and "fight like hell."
Others at the rally, including attorney Rudy Giuliani and Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, also seemed to advocate for a violent intervention when they spoke at the rally. Giuliani said, "Let's have trial by combat!"
The Jan. 6 committee began public hearings last July and have so far interviewed close to 1,000 people. Several former Trump officials have been held in contempt of Congress for refusing subpoenas to testify.
The committee could ultimately recommend that the Justice Department open an investigation that could potentially include criminal charges against Trump, who was also impeached for a second time by the House for inciting the Capitol attack shortly before he left office. He's the only president in history who was impeached twice. He was later acquitted in the Republican-held Senate.
