--- title: What Donald Trump's Jan. 6 Records Lawsuit Means for Biden description: How the Biden White House's disclosure decisions on the Jan. 6 probe could affect the delicate balance of power for future administrations. canonical: https://time.com/6108084/jan-6-records-trump-biden/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-10-18T23:12:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:15:45.871Z article:section: Politics og:title: Joe Biden May Let Congress Have More of Trump's Jan. 6 Records. Here's Why That Matters og:description: So far, Biden has indicated a willingness to lean on the side of disclosure, citing the gravity of the Jan. 6 attack. og:url: https://time.com/6108084/jan-6-records-trump-biden/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt567d9212a201a2db/698a1dd3e76ad24737639503/joe-biden-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Biden Joins Jill Biden At National Teacher Of The Year Event og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Joe Biden May Let Congress Have More of Trump's Jan. 6 Records. Here's Why That Matters twitter:description: So far, Biden has indicated a willingness to lean on the side of disclosure, citing the gravity of the Jan. 6 attack. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt567d9212a201a2db/698a1dd3e76ad24737639503/joe-biden-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 05:53 video:published: 2021-08-04 section: politics topics: January 6 Capitol riot, police body camera footage, officer injuries, violence against police, fear mongering, hateful rhetoric, political accountability, departmental support for officers genre: interview, documentary clip tones: somber, defiant, reflective, urgent emotions: anger (high), fear (high), determination (medium), grief (medium) sentiment: negative audience: news consumers, policy readers, law enforcement community, politically engaged citizens people: Mike Fanone, Jimmy Albright organizations: MPD, Trump administration content_suitability: violence [01:52-04:40]; war [00:00-05:53]; politics [00:00-05:53]; death [04:10-04:40] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Joe Biden May Let Congress Have More of Trump's Jan. 6 Records. Here's Why That Matters > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b1fbb805-0fbb-4d5a-a190-0b8e6815732d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch: What Officer Mike Fanone Saw on January 6 [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: What Officer Mike Fanone Saw on January 6](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aLGY1fP5.m3u8) (5:53)  _Published 2021-08-04. Officer Mike Fanone, who was seriously injured in the Capitol riot, on what body camera footage tells us about January 6._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Officer Mike Fanone, who was seriously injured during the Capitol riot, discusses his experience on January 6 and what body camera footage shows. He responds to calls to move on from the events, arguing that officers have not moved on and that the day should prompt reflection on fear mongering and hateful rhetoric. The footage follows his movements near the crypt and the tunnel entrance, where crowds pushed against officers, and describes him being pulled into the crowd, tased, and deciding not to use deadly force. He closes by saying the country must examine what led to January 6. ## Key points - Fanone says people downplaying or denying January 6 are being arrogant because they were not there. (00:16) - Fanone says the 850 MPD officers have not called him to say they want to move on, which he says is why he will not do so. (00:22) - Fanone describes the tunnel entrance near the crypt as the pinnacle of violence that day, where crowds pushed against officers in a confined space. (01:52) - Fanone says there was not enough room to deliver strikes and officers could only rely on body weight while being crushed together. (02:13) - Fanone says he was pulled out into the crowd, attacked from all sides, and tased. (03:26) - Fanone says he thought the individuals surrounding him were trying to kill him and considered deadly force, but concluded it was not the best option for survival. (04:10) - Fanone says he told attackers he had kids and that his last clear memory is asking to go back inside. (04:40) - Fanone says his initial outpouring of support from officers in his department quickly dissipated. (05:08) - Fanone argues the country must pause and account for what led to January 6, not only the Trump administration but the rhetoric peddled by him and his supporters. (05:20) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:22] Response to calls to move on. Fanone rejects the idea of moving on and criticizes those who downplay January 6 without being present. - [00:22 to 01:05] Fear mongering and deeper troubles. Fanone says his experience should prompt reflection on fear mongering and hateful rhetoric, which he sees as representative of deeper problems. - [01:05 to 02:00] Entering the crypt area. Body camera footage begins as Fanone and partner Jimmy Albright move near the crypt, and Fanone notes officers' reluctance to revisit the day. - [02:00 to 03:26] Tunnel entrance confrontation. Fanone describes the violent confrontation at the tunnel entrance, where officers were crushed together and lost ground. - [03:26 to 04:40] Being pulled out and tased. Fanone recounts being pulled into the crowd, attacked from all sides, and tased while screaming. - [04:40 to 05:08] Choosing not to use deadly force. Fanone describes weighing deadly force against other options, telling attackers he had kids, and asking to return inside. - [05:08 to 05:53] Support fading and call for reflection. Fanone says departmental support faded and argues the country must examine what led to January 6. ## Key quotes - [00:16] Officer Mike Fanone: "I mean, that's an arrogant thing for someone to say that was not there." - [02:13] Officer Mike Fanone: "There really wasn't even enough room to deliver strikes." - [04:18] Officer Mike Fanone: "and I remember thinking well they trying to kill me Deadly force is an option here But is it the best option for me to survive" - [04:40] Officer Mike Fanone: "so I told them that I had kids." - [05:20] Officer Mike Fanone: "The time is not to move on until we've paused, taken an account as to what led us to January 6." ## Questions this video answers - How does Fanone respond to people who say the country should move on from January 6? [00:12] - What did Fanone experience at the tunnel entrance near the crypt? [01:52] - What happened when Fanone was pulled into the crowd? [03:26] - Why did Fanone decide not to use deadly force? [04:18] - What does Fanone say the country needs to examine? [05:20] ## Content suitability - violence [01:52-04:40]: Describes crowd violence against officers, being attacked and tased. - war [00:00-05:53]: Confrontation with a violent crowd at the Capitol, described as a violent riot. - politics [00:00-05:53]: Discusses January 6 and the Trump administration and its rhetoric. - death [04:10-04:40]: Fanone recounts believing attackers were trying to kill him and considering deadly force.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Oct 18, 2021 11:12 PM UTC Officer Mike Fanone, who was seriously injured in the Capitol riot, on what body camera footage tells us about January 6.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Oct 18, 2021 11:12 PM UTC For over a century, U.S. Presidents have fought zealously to defend the executive branch’s right to withhold certain information from Congress and the public. President Joe Biden, facing extreme political pressure in the [fraught probe](https://time.com/6105290/steve-bannon-subpoean-trump-january-6-commission/) of Donald Trump’s role in the [Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol](https://time.com/6087577/michael-fanone-january-6-interview/), may soon defy that norm. As congressional investigators accelerate their inquiry and Trump begins to fight back in court, much of the investigation’s success hinges on the Biden White House and how much inside information it gives the select committee—a choice that could have political ramifications for Biden and affect the delicate balance of power for future Administrations. So far, Biden has indicated a willingness to lean on the side of disclosure, citing the gravity of the Jan. 6 attack. His legal team encouraged the National Archives to turn over a first batch of Trump-era documents despite the former president’s assertion of executive privilege over sensitive information, such as conversations with staffers in the days leading up to the riot. And with the second batch of records currently under review by the Biden Administration, executive privilege will be determined on a “case-by-case basis,” according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. On Monday, Trump brought the issue to D.C. district court, filing a lawsuit against the Jan. 6 select committee and National Archives to block the release of his White House records related to the Capitol attack. It’s a high-stakes public legal dispute between a sitting president and his predecessor on the issue of asserting executive privilege; the suit accuses Biden of staging “a political ploy to accommodate his partisan allies.” “The Committee’s request amounts to nothing less than a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition openly endorsed by Biden to unconstitutionally investigate President Trump and his administration,” the suit says. Trump previously requested to assert privilege over 45 specific documents that included protected “presidential communications,” as well as deliberative process materials and attorney-client privileged materials. The suit accuses the select committee of harassing Trump and senior members of his Administration with “an illegal, unfounded, and overbroad records request to the Archivist of the United States.” Any sitting president has an incentive to protect the power of the office and defend a Commander-in-Chief’s ability to have privileged communications with close aides. “Maybe an aide will choose not to give candid advice to the President because they saw that Biden released Trump’s records,” says Saikrishna Prakash, a law professor at the University of Virginia who studies presidential powers. “Politically, maybe some President in the future gets injured more quickly because something embarrassing comes out of a record release.” In this case, since Trump is no longer in office, Biden may also want to protect the ability of a former president to keep White House documents private should he—or anyone who follows him into the Oval Office—ever be subpoenaed in the future. But any move to deny certain requests for records on Trump’s activities would stymie the congressional investigation—a probe Biden supports. It could also alienate Democratic lawmakers who Biden needs to advance his agenda, as his [infrastructure bill](https://time.com/6088718/senate-infrastructure-bill-breakdown/) and social spending bill are currently held up by intra-party negotiations. The resulting dilemma—to comply with a probe into an assault on American democracy or preserve a core power of the presidency that he may need in the future—puts Biden in a complicated position. Neil Eggleston, a Harvard Law lecturer who served as White House Counsel to President Barack Obama, says that “the facts are just so extreme that no dangerous precedent would be set” if Biden waives executive privilege over Trump’s documents. Based on his knowledge of the White House review process, Eggleston thinks it is unlikely that Biden will withhold any information that could help uncover how the mob was able to infiltrate the Capitol and disrupt the certification of Biden’s presidential victory, given the “compelling need” for answers. Prakash concurs: “It’s not much of a dilemma for \[Biden\] when you think about the politics of it.” Biden needs support from Democratic members of Congress in order to accomplish his major policy goals, including passing the historic spending bill that has stalled in the House for months. Helping the Jan. 6 commission, established by House Democrats, could potentially be a useful political strategy, experts say. Plus, if he complies and the findings are concerning, it could spoil the chances of another Trump presidency, Prakash argues, leaving Biden with plenty of political incentive to waive executive privilege. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the daily D.C. Brief newsletter._](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/politics?source=dc%5Farticle) The Jan. 6 commission has requested thousands of documents from the Trump Administration, many of which went to the National Archives where the president’s correspondence is held. Under an executive order on presidential records, the archivist “shall abide by any instructions given to him by the incumbent President or his designee unless otherwise directed by a final court order.” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House select committee, said on CNN Thursday that “a lot of what we decide” with regard to Trump will depend on how much information the Biden White House provides to the committee. In a recent letter to the archivist concerning the first batch of documents under review, White House counsel Dana Rembus concluded that invoking executive privilege in that case was “not in the best interests of the United States.” “Congress is examining an assault on our Constitution and democratic institutions provoked and fanned by those sworn to protect them,” the letter said. “The constitutional protections of executive privilege should not be used to shield, from Congress or from the public, information that reflects a clear and apparent effort to subvert the Constitution itself.” There is precedent for a former president’s executive privilege claim being denied. Ronald Reagan declined to assert executive privilege to shield any Iran-Contra records from going to Congress, and Richard Nixon was ordered to disclose tapes after being indicted in the Watergate scandal. Biden’s ability to waive Trump’s invocation of executive privilege can come from a close interpretation of the doctrine itself, according to Ian Bassin, who served as Associate White House Counsel in the Obama Administration: executive privilege is only applicable in cases where the president is performing a function of his office granted to him by the Constitution in a manner “consistent with his oath of office.” “Attempting to overturn an election is not one of those,” Bassin says. “Since Trump was acting outside the legitimate scope of his powers, he has no privileges to protect.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6108084/jan-6-records-trump-biden/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6108084/jan-6-records-trump-biden/"},"headline":"Joe Biden May Let Congress Have More of Trump's Jan. 6 Records. 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