Despite the former president's attempts, a federal court in Washington decided to turn over hundreds of pages of Trump White House papers to a congressional panel investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
- The judgement of U.S. District Judge Tanya S.
- Chutkan is on track to launch federal documents demanded by Congress to begin Friday.
- Lawyers for former President Donald Trump filed an appeal immediately and tried to stop the publication of
- the National Archives of materials pending a decision by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Chutkan wrote in a 39-page opinion that the House Committee and the Ministry of Justice "affirm that discovering and dealing with the underlying causes of the 6 January attack is of unprecedented public importance because such information relates to our core democratic institutions and public confidence in them. The Court agrees.
"The Court considers that the public interest lies in allowing
rather than ordering -- the common will of the legislative and executive authorities to examine the events leading up to and including 6 January, and to consider legislation to prevent such events from happening again," the judge wrote.
House Democrats are investigating Trump's contacts and behavior that led to and during the turmoil by a crowd of his fans, killing at least five people and causing Congress to be vacated as he gathered to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The House stated in court documents that it needed the communications records of "the then president who helped spark the collapse of the rule of law" by gathering thousands of supporters in Washington after a months-long attempt to falsely name the 2020 election. Stolen.
Trump sued the chairman of the House Select Committee on January 6 and the director of the National Archives on October 18 in an effort to stop the committee's request for executive power materials.
- Trump's lawyers opposed the release, claiming that as a former president
- he had the ability to invoke executive privilege, even though President Biden had abandoned it.
- Presidents need "full and explicit" guidance to carry out their responsibilities
- and the secrecy of such discussions must last more than a few months or years after they leave office to preserve the President's institution, according to his lawyer.
The appeals court set a deadline for the first written briefing on December 27, urging Trump-Chutkan to issue an interim order barring the release of information pending appeal. Legal commentators expect the conflict to continue far into next year, with delays possibly in Trump's favor if the courts do not resolve the problem before the November 2022 midterm elections, when Republicans seek to defeat the current Democratic Congress.
Trump spokesman Taylor Podwich threatened on Twitter that the legal battle had just begun.
- Battle to defend the executive privilege of past, present and future presidents.
- Budwich said in a written statement.
- President Trump remains committed to defending the Constitution and the Office of the Presidency
- and we will see this process through."
However, Chutkan confirmed in its decision that the Biden administration had allowed the release of his predecessor's documents in the White House.
The court stated that there could only be one president at a time, and that Trump's claim to executive privilege was "outweighed by President Biden's decision not to uphold privilege."
"Presidents are not kings, and plaintiffs are not presidents,"
- Chutkan said, echoing the wording used by fellow Justice Kitangi P.
- Jackson denied Trump's attempt to reject
- a congressional subpoena demanding testimony from his
- White House adviser Donald McGahn in 2019.
Chutkan went on to say that she would not criticize this decision by conducting one close review after another
as requested by Trump's lawyers, because doing so would require "the court to engage in a function directly reserved for the executive branch."
If the judgement is confirmed, this could significantly accelerate the Committee's work. Many of the 800-page papers Trump asked to suppress, such as the White House Visitors' Register and phone records, cannot be accessed elsewhere.
"The District Court has achieved an important victory for the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a written statement. truth - especially the former President who instigated and encouraged rebellion ".
The committee summoned at least 20 senior Trump aides, including Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows and adviser Stephen K. Trump. Bannon.
Last month, the House of Representatives decided to detain Bannon in a criminal contempt case for refusing to comply, and to submit his case to the Justice Department for possible trial. During a closed appearance before the committee on Friday, former Justice Agency employee Jeffrey Clark also declined to answer questions about whether Trump sought to use the department to reverse the election.
Six others received subpoenas last Thursday, including legal scholar John Eastman and former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who worked at the Willard Hotel "Command Center" where loyal Trump supporters monitored attempts to reverse the 2020 election in January.
- Bill Stepien, re-election campaign manager
- Senior Adviser Jason Miller; National Executive Assistant Angela McCallum
- Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn was among others.
The Committee summoned 10 other Trump administration officials on Tuesday, including John McEntee, former White House personnel director; Ben Williamson, former Vice-President; Nicholas Luna, former President's personal assistant; Molly Michael, Trump's Oval Office Operations Coordinator.
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