Judge Denies Latest Trump Attempt to Keep 6 January Records Sealed
14:04 GMT 09.11.2021 (Updated: 16:05 GMT 09.11.2021)
© AFP 2023 / SAMUEL CORUM
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Donald Trump's legal team has been trying to keep sealed White House records from 6 January - the day thousands of angry Trump supporters descended on the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress's formal certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. Trump dismissed a House select committee's probe into the unrest as a "sideshow."
A federal judge has denied a novel attempt by the Trump legal team to temporarily block the National Archives from releasing records related to a congressional investigation's probe of his administration's actions on 6 January.
The former president's lawyers filed a motion late Monday night asking for a preliminary injunction to the records' release from District of Columbia District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan.
On Tuesday, Chutkan, an Obama appointee who has convicted multiple pro-Trump protesters charged in the Capitol mayhem, and who has expressed scepticism over Trump's efforts to block the records' release, dismissed the motion as "premature," promisng she would rule "expeditiously" in the matter, and would not be rushed ahead of a Friday deadline for the National Archives to begin the process of handing the materials sought the by the committee to Congress.
In their request Monday night, Trump's legal team said they would file an appeal by Wednesday if a final ruling on the matter was not reached by that time.
"Absent a court order instructing him not to, the Archivist of the United States intends to compliy with the congressional request and release the disputed documents this Friday, November 12, 2021," lawyers said in the motion.
"Because of these considerations and because Thursday, November 11, 2021, is Veterans Day, President Trump requests a ruling from this Court on his Motion for a Preliminary Injunction and, if applicable, this motion no later than Wednesday, November 10, 2021. Should no order be issued by that time, the Plaintiff will interpret the Court's silence as a refusal and take his appeal to the US Court of Appeals in for the DC Circuit," the motion added.
"This case should be decided after thorough but expeditious consideration pursuant to America's judicial review process, both before this Court and on appeal, not by a race against the clock. After all, this is not a game, especially given the weighty questions at issues," the legal appeal urged.
Chutkan is widely expected to dismiss the former president's attempt to block the release of the records in question on the basis of executive privilege – a legal right granted to presidents and former presidents protecting them from testifying in potentially politically-charged investigations.
At a hearing last week, the judge asked a Trump attorney whether he was "really saying that the president's notes, talking points, telephone conversations on January 6, for example, have no relation to the matter on which Congress is considering legislation? The January riots happened in the Capitol; that is literally Congress's house."
5 November 2021, 17:42 GMT
Trump's legal representatives turned to the DC judge last month, amid efforts by the House select committee to subpoena the relevant documents, including call and video logs, schedules, and three pages of handwritten notes by former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows. Lawyers cited the request's alleged "almost limitless scope" and lack of legislative purpose.
The National Archives promises to release the records as planned unless blocked by a court.
The Democratic Party-dominated House select committee investigating the events of 6 January at the Capitol was formed in July. Boycotted by all but two never-Trump Republicans, the probe is the latest effort by President Biden's allies to permanently bar Trump from ever running for president again over his alleged "assault on American democracy" after the January-February impeachment effort and appeals to the US Constitution failed to do so.
Trump has dismissed the investigation as a "sideshow" meant to "distract America" from the Biden administration's "failures."
2 November 2021, 03:51 GMT
In addition to White House records, the House probe has asked senior former Trump officials to testify before its members, among them former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, Meadows, former aide Dan Scavino, former Pentagon official Kashyap Patel and organisers of the Stop the Steal rally held outside the White House on 6 January (not to be confused with the riot at the Capitol).
The House voted to hold Bannon in contempt last month after he failed to show up to testify, with the former official now facing a $100,000 fine and up to one year's prison time.
Trump and his allies maintain they did nothing wrong on 6 January - when thousands of his supporters stormed the Capitol building, prompting lawmakers convening to certify the 2020 election results to scurry in fear. That day, the Republican president held a separate rally outside the White House, where he promised supporters that he would not allow the election to be "stolen" from him. He later issued a series of tweets urging supporters to "stay peaceful" and "go home," and recorded a video address on 7 January condemning the violence.
In the weeks leading up to the 6 January chaos, Trump, his allies and lawyers accused the Democrats of rigging the vote in key swing states using rigged voting machines and falsified mail-in ballots. The opposition party rejected the allegations, and state courts refused to hear the claims. In December 2020, the Supreme Court threw out a request by the State of Texas to review election results in battleground states.
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