Trump loses bid to keep Jan 6 records from House

WASHINGTON－A US federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the House of Representatives select committee investigating the Jan 6 Capitol riot can access records related to former president Donald Trump in the lead-up to the insurrection, dealing a blow to Trump's effort to keep them secret.

The ruling was made on Tuesday night by Judge Tanya Chutkan of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Trump's legal team told the court that they will appeal.

"The court holds that the public interest lies in permitting－not enjoining－the combined will of the legislative and executive branches to study the events that led to and occurred on Jan 6, and to consider legislation to prevent such events from ever occurring again," wrote Chutkan in a 39-page opinion.

The National Archives, the custodian of those records totaling some 700 pages, is expected to turn over a number of documents to the House on Friday, including White House call logs, video logs and meeting schedules related to Jan 6, as well as three pages of handwritten notes from Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff. More documents are scheduled to be handed over later in November.

Trump filed a lawsuit in the court in October against the National Archives and the select committee, claiming that the committee's request serves no useful legislative purpose, that it undermines Trump's executive privilege rights, and that the committee is not providing sufficient time for the former president's team to review its records requests.

The lawsuit came after President Joe Biden refused to assert executive privileges, arguing that Trump's effort was neither justified nor in the best interests of the US.

In her ruling, Chutkan said a former president cannot override the decisions of the incumbent president as it relates to protecting privileged information of the executive branch.

'Big deal'

Congressman Bennie Thompson, who chairs the Jan 6 committee, called the ruling a "big deal" for the ongoing and intensifying investigation. In a CNN interview, he said he looked forward to the panel's investigators "going through (the documents) with a fine-tooth comb to make sure that our government was not weaponized against its citizens".

The nine-member House committee is not just investigating Trump's conduct on Jan 6, but also his efforts in the months before the riot to challenge the election results or obstruct a peaceful transfer of power. The committee has interviewed more than 150 witnesses and issued more than 30 subpoenas, including ones announced on Tuesday to former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and former top adviser Stephen Miller.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the committee's work and continues to promote unfounded conspiracy theories about widespread fraud in the election.

Xinhua - Agencies