Court temporarily delays release of Trump’s Jan. 6 records
WASHINGTON, DC — A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the release of records sought by a U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection as the court considers an emergency request by former President Donald Trump.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday granted an administrative stay sought by Trump.
The stay is intended to give the court time to consider Trump’s arguments against release of the documents, which was otherwise scheduled for Friday without a court order. The appeals court set arguments in the case for Nov. 30.
The filing by the former President had been a last-ditch effort ahead of the Friday deadline for the House panel to receive 46 records, including White House call logs, visitor logs, drafts of speeches and three handwritten memos from Trump's then-chief of staff Mark Meadows.
In total, more than 700 documents from Trump's presidency had been expected to be turned over by the National Archives to the committee in the coming weeks.
Judge Tanya Chutkan twice rejected Trump's bid for a preliminary injunction to prevent the National Archives from complying with document request, noting in a Wednesday night ruling that Trump's attorneys did not put forward new legal arguments or new facts to alter her previous ruling that held executive privilege belongs to the office -- not the individual.
"In this appeal, the Court will consider novel and important constitutional issues of first impression concerning separation of powers, presidential records, and executive privilege," Trump's attorneys wrote Thursday.
In a ruling Tuesday, Chutkan wrote, "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."
The former President filed a lawsuit last month in DC District Court, claiming executive privilege and alleging that the House's requests for documents are "unprecedented in their breadth and scope" and illegitimate.
The Biden White House has declined to intervene to block access to the Trump records. The Biden administration has said in a filing to Chutkan that Trump, as the former President, "has no personal interest in the records," and that the Biden White House's decision to allow these presidential records to go to Congress should stand.
On Wednesday, the House committee wrote that it needs the Trump White House records quickly so it can continue investigating the attack on Congress.
"The potential harm to the public is immense: Our democratic institutions and a core feature of our democracy — the peaceful transfer of power — are at stake," the committee wrote. It added that a delay will hinder its ability to "timely complete a comprehensive investigation and recommend effective remedial legislation."
