“The limited interest the committee may have in obtaining the requested documents immediately pales in comparison to President Trump’s interest in obtaining judicial review before he suffers irreparable harm,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the court files.
It involves hundreds of documents, including activity logs, schedules, voice notes, and three pages of handwritten notes from then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — paperwork that could reveal what happened in the West Wing when Trump supporters gathered in Washington. and subsequently overran the US Capitol, disrupting the 2020 ballot certification. The data could answer some of the most closely guarded facts of what happened between Trump and other senior officials, including those besieged on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.
Trump is also trying to keep secret a draft proclamation honoring two police officers who died during the siege and memos and other documents alleging election fraud and attempts to reverse the loss of Trump’s presidency, the National Archives said in court documents .
The battle over the documents stems from a lawsuit Trump has filed against both the Archives and the House Committee to stop the records from being disclosed. Trump argues those documents should remain secret under the former president’s own claims of executive privilege, although lower courts have so far rejected his arguments.
Thursday’s submission to the Supreme Court marks an escalation in the dispute, in which President Joe Biden has ruled that withholding the documents on the basis of administrative law is not in the best interests of the United States. In a letter to the National Archives in October, White House counsel Dana A. Remus said the president had refused to assert any privilege because Congress has an “urgent need to fulfill its legislative duties to mitigate the circumstances.” understand what led to these horrific events.”
In their Supreme Court filings Thursday, the former president’s attorneys said the House request for the Trump White House documents was “free from any valid legislative purpose and the authority of Congress under the Constitution and Presidential Records.” Act exceeds”.
Trump told the Supreme Court that the case “raised new and important questions of law that the Court should resolve”.
“While the protection of executive privileges and restrictions on access to presidential documents are qualified, it is critical that future presidents and their advisers understand the contours and perimeters of that privilege—and its exceptions—post-closing. of a presidential term,” Trump said. in his request to the court to hear the case.
Arguments rejected by lower courts
Previously, both a district court and the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s arguments in decisions supporting the legitimacy of the document requests and the investigation in general.
“Former President Trump has given this court no legal reason to override President Biden’s assessment of the interests of the executive at stake, or to create a conflict of powers that political divisions have. avoided,” the DC Circuit said in its advisory earlier this year. month. In its December 9 ruling against Trump, the appeals court gave him 14 days to request Supreme Court intervention.
In his request to Chief Justice John Roberts — who oversees emergencies arising from the DC Circuit — to delay the appeals court decision, Trump said allowing the release of the documents before the Supreme Court hears up the case. considered, would be “detrimental”. influence presidential decision-making for all future presidents.”
“There will be no new presidential transition for more than three years; Congress has time to allow this Court to consider this accelerated appeal,” Trump wrote in the filing.
What was not said was that Republicans are expected to take control of the House in next year’s election and likely end the House’s selected committee investigation.
This story has been updated with additional information.