Former President Donald Trump says he has sent a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration ”in defense of the Office of the Presidency, the Constitution, vital principles of separation of powers, and on behalf of our great Nation.”
This is likely a reference to the White House order to presidential record keepers to release a trove of Trump-era documents to the House Select Committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
”The Radical Left Democrats tried the RUSSIA Witch Hunt, they tried the fake impeachments, and now they are trying once again to use Congress to persecute their political opponents. Their requests are not based in law or reality — it’s just a game to these politicians. They don’t care about our Country or the American people,” Trump said in a statement released by his Save America PAC.
”The Democrats are drunk on power, but this dangerous assault on our Constitution and important legal precedent will not work. This Committee’s fake investigation is not about January 6th any more than the Russia Hoax was about Russia.
”Instead, this is about using the power of the government to silence “Trump” and our Make America Great Again movement, the greatest such achievement of all time,” he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said the administration would back the committee’s efforts to release the first set of documents from the Trump White House provided by the National Archives.
”This is just the first set of documents, and we will evaluate claims of privilege on a case-by-case basis, but the president has also been clear he believes it to be of the utmost importance for both Congress and the American people to have a complete understanding of the events of that day to prevent them from happening again,” she said
The request from the committee included Twitter messages, phone and visitor logs, and videos and photos of events Trump participated in. It also included documents and communications related to the movements and security of then-Vice President Mike Pence and any other documents referring to Trump’s rally at The Ellipse on the White House grounds.
In his statement, Trump said his team ”won two elections, did far better in the second than the first, and now perhaps have to do it a third time!”
”It is also about trying to deflect blame from Biden’s surrender in Afghanistan and the failures to address COVID, the border, crime, and the economy that is leaving Americans dead or broke. It’s another grand distraction, because Biden and the Democrats don’t want you to see how badly America is losing due to their incompetence,” he said.
”My administration, and the great patriots who worked on behalf of the American people, will not be intimidated. We will not allow Biden or the Radical Democrats to get off without accepting blame for their incompetence and failures. I will always fight for America First, and the Constitution. Together, we will Make America Great Again, Again!”
