Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) demanded the White House release the unredacted transcripts of interviews conducted by the Jan. 6 House Select Committee in a letter Friday.
Loudermilk, who is conducting an investigation into the Democrat-led panel, is specifically requesting unedited and unredacted testimony from "Secret Service agents or employees who were assigned to former President Trump on January 6, 2021" and who testified in front of the select committee at the end of 2022.
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“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 in the letter.
Loudermilk, who is the chairman of the House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight, added that the subcommittee was willing to store the documents in a classified setting if the White House determined some of the testimony required the classification. He gave White House special counsel Richard Sauber a deadline of Aug. 30, 2023, to turn over the testimony.
The request comes in response to Sauber's letter on Tuesday informing Loudermilk that the White House is still reviewing transcripts of four Secret Service agents. Sauber also claimed the White House would make redactions to “protect sensitive operational and personal information” and then send the transcripts to Congress and the National Archives. However, the Georgia congressman said anything less than the original and unredacted interviews would be "unacceptable."
"Seems the White House is trying redact and hide information on documents they do not own," Loudermilk posted to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "Anything other than my subcommittee getting original, unreacted documents is unacceptable."
Loudermilk said he would respond "appropriately" to receive the original copies if redacted ones were released.
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"The White House does not own these records, the House does," Loudermilk told NBC News. "This was testimony given to a House committee — not just records from an executive branch agency.”
Loudermilk launched his investigation into the panel in March. The investigation is also looking into security failures at the Capitol complex surrounding the riot, including any failures by Capitol Police.