- The US Court of Appeals has suspended allowing House investigators to visit former President Donald Trump’s White House records.
- The committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol stated that it needed the requested materials to understand how Trump might have played a role in inciting the attack.
- Trump argued that these materials are protected by “executive privileges,” but a federal judge earlier rejected this argument.
WASHINGTON – On Thursday, a U.S. Court of Appeals postponed permission for congressional investigators to review the White House records of former President Donald Trump in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and plans to hold a hearing on the matter on November 30.
Trump’s lawyers have asked the U.S. District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals to shelve the ruling of Tuesday’s lower court and await an appeal. They said they could make a ruling quickly.
The three judges randomly assigned to the appeal panel of this case were appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden or former President Barack Obama as the judiciary.
The National Archives of the federal agency that keeps Trump’s White House records was scheduled to provide hundreds of pages of documents to Congress on Friday.
Congressional supervision
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision on Tuesday allowed the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the attack to access phone records, visitor logs, and other White House documents that Trump hopes to block.
The committee said it needed the requested materials to understand Trump’s possible role in inciting riots, and his supporters aimed to prevent lawmakers from proving Biden’s presidential victory.
The former Republican president argued that the materials requested by the committee are protected by a legal principle called executive privilege, which protects the confidentiality of some White House communications.
But Chutkan rejected this argument in the apparent victory of congressional oversight.
The attack on January 6 killed 4 people, one was shot and killed by the police, and the other 3 people died of natural causes. More than 100 policemen were injured in the attack. One congressional police officer who was attacked by protesters died the next day, and four other policemen defending Congress later committed suicide.
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