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CBS reporter asks Psaki if it’s wise to open ‘Pandora’s Box’ by declining executive privilege for Jan 6 docs

October 15, 2021 | | Print Article

CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe questioned White House press secretary Jen Psaki on the wisdom of opening “Pandora’s Box” by declining to allow executive privilege over former President Trump’s Jan. 6 documents.

“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?” O’Keefe asked Psaki during her White House press briefing on Thursday.

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

O’Keefe pointed out the danger in the Biden administration’s move, “You can understand that you’re opening potentially a Pandora’s Box here.”

(Video Credit: Forbes Breaking News)

Psaki brushed off O’Keefe’s valid premise.

“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,” she said.

“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,” she disingenuously posited.

“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,” she equivocated.

“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,” Psaki asserted.

The Jan. 6 committee will decide next week whether it will pursue criminal contempt charges against former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. If the committee does, the House will debate the measure before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refers the matter to the Justice Department.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and Defense Department official Kash Patel all have been subpoenaed to appear before the panel this week. Meadows and Patel have been working with lawmakers on the issue, while Scavino was offered an extension after a delay in being served.

The Biden administration has ordered the National Archives to release information that was requested by the Jan. 6 committee. Counsel Dana Remus told the presidential record-keepers in a letter this week that it is not “in the best interests” of the nation to withhold roughly 40 documents, according to the Washington Examiner.

Former President Trump released a statement in response to the unprecedented move by the Biden administration:

Biden has rejected our request to withhold White House information from the House Unselect Committee investigating the January 6th protest, but has not taken a stance on the insurrection that took place on November 3rd, often referred to as the Crime of the Century. This will put the current White House in a terrible position when the inevitable request for information comes concerning the massive corruption by Hunter Biden and the already well-documented crimes committed by the Biden family, the least of which are Hunter’s paintings selling for as much as $500,000 a piece. With our Country collapsing, with our Military disgraced, with our Borders nonexistent, when will the American people have had enough?

 

The neverending attacks on Trump concerning Jan. 6 are getting very old and a backlash appears to be coming for the Biden administration:

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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