Federal judge refuses Trump request to block Jan. 6 records
A federal judge rejected former President Donald Trumpâs request to block the release of documents to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
In denying a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Tuesday that Congress had a strong public interest in obtaining records that could shed light on a violent insurrection mounted by the former presidentâs supporters. She added that President Joe Biden had the authority to waive executive privilege over the documents despite Trumpâs assertions otherwise.
Barring a court order, the National Archives plans to turn over Trumpâs records to the committee by Friday. But Trumpâs lawyers swiftly promised an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The case will likely eventually head to the U.S. Supreme Court.
âAt bottom, this is a dispute between a former and incumbent president,â Chutkan wrote. âAnd the Supreme Court has already made clear that in such circumstances, the incumbentâs view is accorded greater weight.â
Trump âdoes not acknowledge the deference owedâ to Bidenâs judgment as the current president, Chutkan said. She noted examples of past presidents declining to assert executive privilege and rejected what she said was Trumpâs claim that executive privilege âexists in perpetuity.â
âPresidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not president,â she said.
According to an earlier court filing from the archives, the records include call logs, drafts of remarks and speeches and handwritten notes from Trumpâs then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows. There are also copies of talking points from then-press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and âa draft Executive Order on the topic of election integrity,â the National Archives has said.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the House committee, said in a statement after the ruling that the records are crucial for understanding the attack and âin my view, there couldnât be a more compelling public interest than getting answers about an attack on our democracy.â
On CNN, Thompson said Trump should stop behaving like a âspoiled brat.â
The nine-member House committee is investigating not just Trumpâs conduct on Jan. 6 â when he told a rally to âfight like hellâ shortly before rioters overran law enforcement â but his efforts in the months before the riot to challenge election results or obstruct a peaceful transfer of power. The committee has interviewed more than 150 witnesses and issued more than 30 subpoenas, including ones announced Tuesday to McEnany and former top adviser Stephen Miller. It is unclear, so far, whether the lawmakers will eventually call Trump to testify.
Trump has repeatedly attacked the committeeâs work and continued to promote unfounded conspiracy theories about widespread fraud in the election, despite the fact that Bidenâs win was certified by all 50 states and his claims have been rebuked by courts across the country.
In suing to block the National Archives from turning over documents, Trump called the House panelâs request a âvexatious, illegal fishing expeditionâ that was âuntethered from any legitimate legislative purpose.â Allowing the House to get access to his records would also damage executive privilege for future presidents, Trumpâs lawyers argued.
But Chutkan said the âthe public interest lies in permitting â not enjoining â the combined will of the legislative and executive branches to study the events that led to and occurred on January 6, and to consider legislation to prevent such events from ever occurring again.â
Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich tweeted late Tuesday that the case âwas destined to be decided by the Appellate Courts.â He added that âTrump remains committed to defending the Constitution & the Office of the Presidency, & will be seeing this process through.â
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Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.