White House knocks back Trump plan to assert ‘executive privilege’ to avoid having his role in Capitol riot scrutinised

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called 6 January an ‘incredibly dark day in our democracy’

President Joe Biden will not invoke executive privilege to prevent Donald Trump’s phone records from being shared with the committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.

“The President has already concluded that it would not be appropriate to assert executive privilege and so we will respond promptly to these questions as they arise,” Ms Psaki told a press briefing.

“We have been working closely with congressional committees and others as they work to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6, an incredibly dark day in our democracy.”

A select committee investigating the deadly attack on the Capitol has subpoenaed four of Mr Trump’s closest aides, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows and adviser Steve Bannon.

Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino, and former Defense Department official Kash Patel were also subpoenaed on Thursday.

The committee chairman, Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson from Mississippi, issued letters to the four to say he was investigating “the facts, circumstances, and causes” of the attack and asked them to produce documents and appear at depositions at some time in the middle of next month.

Mr Trump has vowed to fight the subpoenas “on executive privilege and other grounds”.

He may now be forced to challenge the subpoenas through the courts.

Ms Psaki added that the White House take the investigation into the Capitol riots “incredibly seriously”.