U.S. Supreme Court Brings Trump’s Fight To Block Release Of Jan. 6 Records To Conclusion
Michael Cantrell
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The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to bring a conclusion Tuesday to former President Donald Trump’s battle to block the release of White House documents sought by the select panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots — which happens to be completely led by Democrats.
The court’s decision to reject Trump’s appeal comes after the Jan. 19 order which led to the documents in question being given to the House of Representatives investigative committee by the federal agency that oversees the storage of government and historical records.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Dec. 9 upheld a lower court ruling that Trump had no basis to challenge President Joe Biden’s decision to allow the records to be handed over to the House of Representatives select committee. Trump then appealed to the Supreme Court
Trump and his allies have waged an ongoing legal battle with the House select committee seeking to block access to documents and witnesses. Trump has sought to invoke a legal principle known as executive privilege, which protects the confidentially of some internal White House communications, a stance rejected by lower courts.
The House committee has said it needed the records to understand any role Trump may have played in fomenting the violence that unfolded on that day, when protesters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to prevent Congress from formally certifying Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Trump.
The select committee went on to ask the National Archive to hand over visitor logs, phone records, and all written communications between the former president and his advisers.
President Joe Biden had already determined those records, which are the property of the executive branch, should not be covered by executive privilege.
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