A federal judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from accessing White House records related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 election
, determining that he has no authority to overrule President Joe Biden’s decision to waive executive privilege and release the materials to Congress.Trump immediately appealed the decision. The National Archives, which houses the White House records, has indicated it plans to hand over the sensitive documents by Friday afternoon unless a court intervenes.
Chutkan began her ruling with a recitation of Trump’s months-long effort 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 Joe Biden. Against that backdrop, thousands of Trump supporters descended on and breached the Capitol, with hundreds violently attacking police officers and forcing Congress and Vice President Mike Pence to flee for safety.
But Chutkan said the Nixon precedent fails to help Trump’s case. In that instance, the current president — the only sitting “executive” — had not weighed in on Nixon’s effort to shield his records. In this case, Biden had already agreed to provide the documents to the Jan. 6 committee, waiving confidentiality concerns as a result of the “unprecedented” nature of the attack on Congress.
“The court … is not best situated to determine executive branch interests, and declines to intrude upon the executive function in this manner,” Chutkan wrote. “It must presume that the incumbent is best suited to make those decisions on behalf of the executive branch.” “[W]hile some of the Select Committee’s requests are indeed broad, so too is Congress’ power to obtain information,” she said.
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