Judge Shoots Down Trump’s Efforts To Keep Records From Jan. 6 Committee

Shelby TalcottNovember 9, 2021

A federal judge denied former President Donald Trump’s attempt to keep hundreds of records private from the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday evening.

Trump filed a lawsuit in October claiming executive privilege after the House committee requested the National Archives send over his records relating to the Jan. 6 riot.

“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,” D.C.’s U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in the ruling, according to CNN’s crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz.

“and to consider legislation to prevent such events from ever occurring again,” the federal judge wrote Tuesday night.

The National Archives is set to give Trump WH records to the US House Select Committee on Friday

— Katelyn Polantz (@kpolantz) November 10, 2021

The ruling means the National Archives is set to give Trump’s records to the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot on Friday. These records include visitor logs and call logs from the White House as well as notes written by some of Trump’s top advisors surrounding his election fraud claims, CNN reported.

Chutkan’s ruling affects over 700 pages of records, according to CNN. (RELATED: Liz Cheney Says She Agrees With Speaker Pelosi On Rejecting Two Republicans For The Jan. 6 Select Committee)

President Joe Biden’s White House has blocked Trump’s request to withhold documents, with White House Counsel Dana Remus writing in October that “that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified as to any of the documents.”

“The constitutional protections of executive privilege should not be used to shield, from Congress or the public, information that reflects a clear and apparent effort to subvert the Constitution itself,” Remus added.