Chanel Rion, OAN Chief White House Correspondent
UPDATED 6:38 AM PT – Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Biden White House has been in talks with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) criminal probe into Donald Trump for months – contrary to what the White House has claimed. Government documents reviewed by Just the News this week expose major holes in the Biden White House narrative.
Newly reviewed memos between the Biden White House and the FBI, DOJ, and the National Archives show the White House as early as April was involved in discussions surrounding Trump’s papers and documents. According to documents reviewed by Just the News, then White House Deputy Legal Counsel Jonathan Su this May told the National Archives President Biden would “not object to waiving [President Trump’s] claims of executive privilege.”
This statement from Joe Biden’s White House served as the green light for DOJ to procure a subpoena demanding Trump return papers from his presidency that might be at Mar-a-Lago.
A May 10 letter from Acting National Archivist Debra Steidel Wall to Trump’s legal team confirmed the White House’s role and prior knowledge in the DOJ probe against Trump:
“On April 11, 2022, the White House Counsel’s Office — affirming a request from the Department of Justice supported by an FBI letterhead memorandum — formally transmitted a request that NARA provide the FBI access to the 15 boxes for its review within seven days, with the possibility that the FBI might request copies of specific documents following its review of the boxes,” wrote Wall.
Wall goes on to justify ignoring Trump’s executive privilege citing President Biden himself:
“The Counsel to the President has informed me that, in light of the particular circumstances presented here, President Biden defers to my determination, in consultation with the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, regarding whether or not I should uphold the former President’s purported ‘protective assertion of executive privilege.’ …I have therefore decided not to honor the former President’s ‘protective’ claim of privilege.”
These correspondences confirm the Biden White House directly participated in a process key to empowering the DOJ raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on August 8.
Ultimately, these revelations cast doubt on statements by Biden officials claiming no advance knowledge of the raid and raise more questions about what Biden officials did know prior to the August 8 raid.
