Biden orders release of Trump White House visitor logs to January 6 panel

Trump had insisted that details of who visited him in the White House were protected by executive privilege, a claim identical to the one Biden rejected last year over hundreds of pages of documents, including call logs, daily presidential diaries, handwritten notes and memos from aides. Trump took that case to appeal but lost in the supreme court last month.

Trump, meanwhile, continues to expound the big lie that his election defeat was fraudulent as he mulls his decision to run again in 2024.

Members on both sides insisted at the weekend that they expected Giuliani, who has so far resisted efforts to appear, to give what could be crucial testimony. The former New York mayor and Trump adviser has been implicated in an alleged plot to seize voting machines in several contested states.

Other key Trumpworld insiders have refused to cooperate with the committee, including the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. The House of Representatives recommended criminal contempt charges for Meadows in December, and Bannon pleaded not guilty to a contempt of Congress charge in November.

Pressure is mounting on Trump, who is facing at least 19 separate legal challenges, according to a Guardian tally this month. The Washington Post reported last week that Trump took boxes of records, including top secret documents, to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida retreat, when he left office, in possible violation of government record-keeping laws.

And an upcoming book from New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman claims that Trump periodically clogged White House toilets by attempting to flush away printed papers. Trump has denied the allegations.