The Daily Fuckup

By Sept. 25, 2021, the Jan. 6 records fight was not new. It had already begun a month earlier, when the House select committee asked the National Archives and Records Administration on Aug. 25 for presidential records tied to the attack on the Capitol and the effort to overturn the 2020 election. NARA’s public Jan. 6 records page places that request at the start of the dispute, and the committee’s letter shows it was broad from the beginning. citeturn0search0turn0search1

The request mattered because it aimed at the documentary record, not the usual round of political statements. The committee sought White House material and related records that could show who was involved, what was said, and how the response to the election unfolded inside the administration. NARA’s materials show the exchange continued after the Aug. 25 request, with later privilege claims and follow-on correspondence arriving in October and beyond. citeturn0search0turn0search1

That made the dispute more than a messaging fight. Under the Presidential Records Act, NARA holds and processes presidential records after a presidency ends, and its public guidance explains the agency’s role in preserving and making those records available under the law. Congress can seek records for investigations, but the system works through custody, review, and disclosure rules rather than through instant access. citeturn0search2

So the basic chronology was clear by late September: the committee had already sent the records request, and the next phase was a slow-moving fight over what would be preserved, what could be withheld, and what would eventually be turned over. The later privilege battle was still to come, but the paper trail was already in place. citeturn0search0turn0search1turn0search2