National Archives to turn over Pence records to Jan. 6 committee
The National Archives is preparing to turn over some of former Vice President Mike Pence's official records to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the agency disclosed in a letter posted to its website.
The tranche of records will be turned over by March 3, absent a court order, officials said.
Several senior Pence aides have appeared before congressional Jan. 6 investigators in recent days, including Pence's former chief of staff Marc Short and counsel Greg Jacob.
Pence's former national security adviser, Keith Kellogg, has also cooperated with the panel's inquiry, testifying to investigators about his interactions with then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6.
Trump, who unsuccessfully attempted to assert privilege over some vice presidential materials, could go back to court to try to stop the panel from receiving Pence's records.
The Biden White House declined to assert executive privilege over Pence's records and argued that Trump lacks authority to make privilege claims over his vice president's records.
"Many of the records as to which the former President has made a claim of privilege in this set of documents, however, were communications concerning the former Vice President's responsibilities as President of the Senate in certifying the vote of presidential electors on January 6, 2021," White House counsel Dana Remus wrote in a letter to the National Archives.
To date, the Jan. 6 committee has received 60,000 pages of records, including more than 700 pages of National Archives material that Trump had tried to keep from investigators, according to a congressional aide. The committee has also interviewed more than 475 witnesses.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said Wednesday that the committee could begin holding public hearings in April.
