Capitol attack panel granted access to Trump White House records

November 10, 2021 - 0:0

TEHRAN - A US federal judge has ruled that White House records from the Trump administration can be turned over to the House committee investigating the deadly attack on the Capitol on 6 January.

The decision, handed down late on Tuesday by the US district judge Tanya Chutkan, clears the way for the National Archives to start transmitting the records requested by Congress as early as Friday, though attorneys for Trump immediately vowed to appeal the ruling.

Former president Donald Trump cannot block the release of the records that include secret telephone records, visitor logs and other White House documents.

The National Archives, which houses the White House records, has indicated it intends to hand over the sensitive documents by Friday afternoon unless a court intervenes.

“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 January 6,” Chutkan wrote in a 39-page opinion that delivered a major win to the select committee.

In August, the select committee requested the records, hoping they will provide insight into Trump’s months-long campaign to sow distrust in the election results, as well as his attempt to call supporters to Washington to pressure lawmakers to refuse to certify his defeat to Biden

"While broad, these requests, and each of the other requests made by the Committee, do not exceed the Committee’s legislative powers," Chutkan said.

“Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President,” Chutkan wrote in her ruling. “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 January 6.”

The administration of President Joe Biden has already waived executive privilege for all of the documents in the first tranche of records, but Trump sued the panel and the National Archives last month in an attempt to halt their release.

The latest ruling comes a few hours after more officials working for his administration were targeted over their part in the Jan. 6 riot.

The House select committee issued subpoenas on Tuesday to 10 Trump administration officials, including the former senior adviser Stephen Miller and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

“The Select Committee wants to learn every detail of what went on in the White House on January 6th and in the days beforehand. We need to know precisely what role the former President and his aides played in efforts to stop the counting of the electoral votes and if they were in touch with anyone outside the White House attempting to overturn the outcome of the election,” said Chair Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississipi, in a statement.