Former President Donald Trump’s effort to block January 6 investigators from obtaining his White House records failed miserably in court. The twice-impeached one-term president is seeking to block the release of White House communications and other records to the lawmakers that are investigating the deadly January 6 Capitol insurrection. Well, Trump isn’t having a good day.
One part sticks out.
“The January 6th Committee has also demonstrated a sound factual predicate for requesting these presidential documents specifically,” the court writes. “There is a direct linkage between the former President and the events of the day.”
“Then-President Trump called for his supporters to gather in Washington, D.C. for a ‘wild’ response to what he had been alleging for months was a stolen election,” the court states. “On January 6th, President Trump directed his followers to go to the Capitol and ‘fight’ for their country with the aim of preventing Congress’s certification of the electoral vote.”
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Scott McFarlane of NBC News tweeted that this is a win for the committee.
ALERT: Win for US House Jan 6 Select Committee
Federal appeals court rules against Trump in his efforts to withhold records from the committee
“We do not come to this decision lightly”
Next level legal challenge by Trump is almost certain
Opinion: https://t.co/3DRWnbmlcb pic.twitter.com/nTyh0IZNC4
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 9, 2021
Previously, Trump’s lawyers were questioned, and the judges repeatedly expressed skepticism that a former president could override a decision by the sitting president to release documents to Congress, particularly when the incumbent has decided it’s in the national interest to release records to investigators.
President Joe Biden has been very clear that he won’t invoke executive privilege for the former president. It’s up to the current president and not the former one. Trump previously lashed in a statement over Biden’s decision not to be a roadblock in the investigation.
“Executive Branch agencies have been engaging with Congress on matters relating to January 6 for several months now and will continue to do so, including with the Select Committee.” a White House official told Reuters at the time, “The President has been clear that the events of January 6 were an unprecedented assault on our democracy – and he believes they deserve a full investigation to determine what transpired and ensure it can never happen again.”
Trump is very good at stalling the courts. He’s done that for his entire life. If you’re like me, you’re tired of seeing Trump get away with so many crimes that have been committed out in the open. Well, this is one more step in that direction.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
