Trump has lost the appeal to block the Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe from getting White House records. A federal appeals court rejected former President’s effort to block a House committee from getting a tranche of White House records related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The decision comes a day after Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sued the committee in Washington federal court, seeking to void two subpoenas related to him from the same select committee. Trump is almost certain to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.
Trump had argued that the records, which are held by the National Archives, are protected by executive privilege, the legal doctrine that protects White House documents from being made public.
The select committee objected to Trump’s claims, and President Joe Biden waived privilege over the disputed records.
That decision upheld the opinion of a lower federal court judge, who ruled last month that in disputes between current and former presidents, “the incumbent’s view is accorded greater weight.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, hundreds of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol and forced legislators to flee for their safety. The rioters, many of whom subscribed to Trump’s false assertion that the 2020 election was rigged against him, temporarily stopped Congress from confirming Biden’s Electoral College victory.
“The events of January 6th exposed the fragility of those democratic institutions and traditions that we had perhaps come to take for granted,” the opinion of the appellate judges said.
