House Republican demands unredacted Jan. 6 panel transcripts from White House

WASHINGTON — Rep. Barry Loudermilk, in a letter sent Friday obtained exclusively by NBC News, called on the White House to return several transcripts of interviews conducted by the House Jan. 6 committee “without alteration or redaction.”

Loudermilk, R-Ga., who is leading an inquiry into the Democrat-led Jan. 6 panel as chairman of the House Administration’s subcommittee on oversight, wrote that the transcripts he’s requesting include testimony from “Secret Service agents or employees who were assigned to former President Trump on January 6, 2021” and who testified to the select committee at the end of 2022.

His letter comes after White House special counsel Richard Sauber informed Loudermilk on Tuesday that the White House is still reviewing transcripts of four individuals who served in the Trump White House in nonpartisan roles. Sauber said the White House would make redactions to “protect sensitive operational and personal information” and then send the transcripts to the National Archives and Record Administration, along with copies to Congress.

Loudermilk wrote in his letter that the White House should first turn over the transcripts without redactions and then work with his subcommittee to determine if any are needed.

“Once these records, including transcripts of testimony from the Secret Service agents and employees, have been returned in their original, unaltered format, I am willing to discuss any redactions you believe are necessary prior to these records being released publicly,” Loudermilk wrote, adding that his subcommittee is prepared to receive documents in a classified setting if needed.

Asked by NBC News what his response would be if the White House provides redacted documents, Loudermilk said, “Anything other than receiving original, unredacted copies is unacceptable.”

“If the White House sends redacted documents, we will respond appropriately to ensure we get the full original copies. The White House does not own these records, the House does. This was testimony given to a House Committee — not just records from an executive branch agency.”

He set a deadline for the White House to turn over the records by 5 p.m. on Aug. 30.

In the new letter, Loudermilk also took issue with Sauber’s statement that the transcripts would be given to the National Archives. “These documents remain current records of the U.S. House of Representatives, which has designated the Committee on House Administration as their appropriate repository,” he wrote, adding that the Archives “has no role with respect to current records of the House.”

Sauber wrote to Loudermilk this week that Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the chairman and vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, asked the White House to review the transcripts to “address the need for limitations on disclosure of sensitive information.”

Loudermilk originally wrote to the White House on Aug. 8 to request the return of “all original documents and records related to the events of January 6, 2021, that the White House has that originated from the Select Committee.”