The Select House Committee investigating the deadly January 6 Capitol building riot underlined on Monday that it urgently requires the release of the Trump-era White House records, telling a federal appeals court that any delay amounts to hindering the investigation.
"Delay itself would inflict a serious constitutional injury on the Select Committee by interfering with its legislative duty. The Select Committee needs the documents now because they will shape the direction of the investigation," the Jan. 6 panel's lawyers noted in their filing with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
According to the committee, the documents could reveal to investigators which witnesses to depose and what questions to ask, as well as whether additional subpoenas are necessary.
The efforts by the Select Committee to obtain the Trump records were blasted by the former president's legal team as breaching his rights to executive privilege. Trump has sued the panel over its efforts, and earlier in November a DC appeals court temporarily blocked the Committee from obtaining the records.
Trump's lawyers have suggested that a release of his records would "forever [change] the dynamics between the political branches", as Congress could, in their words, "use this new weapon" in the future against any president.
"In these hyper-partisan times, Congress will increasingly and inevitably use this new weapon to perpetually harass its political rival", the Trump attorneys claimed.
The chairman of the panel, Democrat Bennie G. Thompson, observed that the documents are of critical importance for the investigation and that, historically, "the Executive Branch has provided Congress with testimony and information when it has been in the public interest".
Oral arguments for the case are to be heard next week.
January 6 Investigation Progress
The House Select Committee to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot was formed in July. Described as bipartisan, it features two Republicans: Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom voted to impeach Trump in the US House back in February for what was termed the latter's "incitement to insurrection" in the Capitol attack. Acquitted later in the Senate, the former president blasted both Cheney and Kinzinger as "RINOs" [Republicans in Name Only], referring to a lack of loyalty toward Trump's wishes.
The other seven members of the committee are Democrats.
As of now, a handful of Trump allies have been subpoenaed by the January 6 panel, among them former national security adviser Michael Flynn, ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, then-White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, ex-Trump adviser Stephen Miller and former White House strategist Steve Bannon.
The latter surrendered to the FBI on 15 November on contempt of Congress charges after attempting to ignore his congressional subpoena.