Trump's Bid To Block Documents From Jan 6 Committee Gets Rejected By US Supreme Court

Former President Donald Trump's White House records can now be accessed by the committee investigating the Jan. 6 US Capitol riot.

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court rejected Trump’s bid to block the release of some of the presidential documents to the committee, reported Business Insider. This means that more than 700 records will be handed over to Congress that could help in finding out what happened before the insurrection last year.

It was just Justice Clarence Thomas who said publicly that he would have granted Trump's request to block the records transfer from the National Archives to the committee, according to CNN.

The Joe Biden administration was in favor of releasing the documents to the panel, after determining the disclosure is in best interest of America. The committee, which is exploring Trump's role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election, had been seeking more than 700 pages of disputed records. The committee wanted to know more about Trump’s role in the attack including his appearance at a Jan. 6 rally. That time he told his supporters to head to the US Capitol where lawmakers were gearing up to certify the election results and "fight" for their nation.

The requested documents include speech notes, schedules, activity logs and handwritten notes from Mark Meadows, who was serving as the White House chief of staff back then. These could reveal what was going on inside the West Wing as several followers of Trump gathered in Washington and then stormed to the Capitol.

Trump's lawyers said that the documents were privileged and sensitive. Trump's lawyer, Jesse R. Binnall told the justices that the "disagreement between an incumbent US President and his predecessor from a rival political party" is novel. According to the lawyer, it also highlights the importance of executive privilege and the ability of Presidents and their advisers to "reliably make and receive full and frank advice, without concern that communications will be publicly released to meet a political objective."

In light of the "extraordinary events" of Jan. 6, solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said that Biden had decided that an assertion of executive privilege is "not justified."

The panel's chairman, Bennie Thompson, and Liz Cheney, its vice chair, issued a statement saying that the Supreme Court action was "a victory for the rule of law and American democracy."

According to Reuters, the panel said that it has already started getting some of the records that Trump had hoped to withhold.