A federal appeals court panel on Thursday rejected former President Trump’s effort to prevent the House Select Committee on the Capitol riot from obtaining his White House records.
“On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the Political Branches over these documents,” Judge Patricia Millett wrote in a 68-page opinion on behalf of the three-judge panel. “Both Branches agree that there is a unique legislative need for these documents and that they are directly relevant to the Committee’s inquiry into an attack on the Legislative Branch and its constitutional role in the peaceful transfer of power.”
The court gave Trump two weeks to pursue an appeal before the order takes effect.
The former president’s lawyers are expected to file an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court as a last ditch effort to block the release of Trump administration records from the National Archives. Trump has asserted executive privilege over more than 700 pages of documents.
Lawyers for the House said the committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol riot needs the records “to complete a thorough investigation into how the actions of the former president, his advisers, and other government officials may have contributed to the attack on Congress to impede the peaceful transfer of presidential power.”