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The Trump White House is waiving executive privilege for key former Biden administration aides who have been summoned by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.
Chair James Comer, R-Ky., is probing the alleged cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s mental decline.
Letters obtained by Fox News Digital via a source familiar with the matter show the Trump administration will not allow the people of interest in Comer’s probe to use their past White House work as a legal shield.
Deputy Counsel to the President Gary Lawkowski sent the letters to former Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain, former senior advisors Anita Dunn, Steve Ricchetti, Mike Donilon, Annie Tomasini, Bruce Reed and Ashley Williams, and Anthony Bernal, former advisor to former first lady Jill Biden.
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“In light of the unique and extraordinary nature of the matters under investigation, President Trump has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the national interest, and therefore is not justified, with respect to particular subjects within the purview of the House Oversight Committee,” the letters said.
“Those subjects include your assessment of former President Biden’s fitness for the office of the President and your knowledge of who exercised executive powers during his administration.”
Both congressional Republicans and the White House are investigating whether those senior Biden aides played any role in keeping concerns about the elderly former president’s mental acuity shielded from the public eye and even from lower-level White House staff.
It is not clear if any of the aforementioned former Biden aides planned to claim executive privilege in communications with the committee, but it is not unheard of for a new administration to waive it for investigations involving its predecessor.
The Biden administration waived executive privilege for records sought by the now-defunct House select committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol attack in 2021.
The Biden White House also rejected executive privilege claims made by Peter Navarro and Michael Flynn in that panel’s investigation. However, the latest movement in Comer’s probe comes after he and committee staff held their first closed-door interview with one of Biden’s former aides.
Neera Tanden appeared on Capitol Hill for an hourslong sworn deposition Tuesday. As it had for others, the Trump White House waived any claim to executive privilege for Tanden’s sitdown.
She told reporters afterward that there was “absolutely not” any effort by senior aides to disguise Biden’s mental state.
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“I answered every question, was pleased to discuss my public service, and it was a thorough process, and I’m glad I answered everyone’s question,” Tanden also said.
A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that Tanden testified she had minimal interaction with Biden in her role as staff secretary.
“To obtain approval for autopen signatures, she would send decision memos to members of the President’s inner circle. She stated that she was not aware of what actions or approvals occurred between the time she sent the memo and the time she received it back with approval,” the source said.
Bernal is set to sit down with Comer and investigators for his own testimony on Thursday.
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