If Donald Trump’s lawyers don’t get quick action from the Supreme Court, the first four pages of White House records relating to Jan. 6 could be turned over to the House select committee on Wednesday evening.
The National Archives has identified four pages that the committee wants and that it says are not included in Trump’s lawsuit to block the release of documents. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in December issued an injunction preventing the Biden administration from turning over three tranches of documents—documents the court said can be given to the House select committee at the president’s discretion, and which President Joe Biden has said he would release—but allowed Trump time to appeal to the Supreme Court. The four pages set to be released on Wednesday at 6 PM ET are not included in those three tranches of documents, though, according to the National Archives, and Trump’s lawyers have not moved to specifically block them.
“On December 17, 2021, the Counsel to the President directed the Archivist to withhold those records for an additional thirty days—i.e., through today, January 18, 2022—to enable the former President to seek an injunction if he wished,” the filing explains. “Because the former President has not obtained such an injunction from any court, the release will proceed as scheduled absent an intervening court order.”
A lawyer for Trump, Jesse Binnall, responded in court on Wednesday with a threat to have the Biden administration held in contempt of court. “Under no circumstances should the government's misconduct and attempt to create an ad hoc record be sanctioned by this Court,” Binnall wrote. “The weighty issues being considered by the Supreme Court should be decided under the normal course, not by the government's attempt to bypass a lawful injunction.”
But according to the National Archives’ Tuesday filing, contempt would not apply: “This Court specifically stated in its December 9, 2021 decision, however, that its administrative injunction encompassed only records from the first three tranches, which were the only tranches at issue in the appeal.” Trump’s lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to enjoin the release of any contested materials, but that has not (yet) happened. The four pages in question therefore fall outside of the existing circuit court injunction but haven’t yet been addressed by the Supreme Court.
Unless the Supreme Court moves to block the release in the few hours remaining before 6 PM, there is no injunction in the way of the National Archives’ plan. The four pages in question come from the Office of Records Management and are a tiny proportion of the more than 700 pages the select committee is seeking over Trump’s objections. That larger mass of documents includes daily presidential diaries and files from then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, among others.
The National Archives has identified four pages that the committee wants and that it says are not included in Trump’s lawsuit to block the release of documents. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in December issued an injunction preventing the Biden administration from turning over three tranches of documents—documents the court said can be given to the House select committee at the president’s discretion, and which President Joe Biden has said he would release—but allowed Trump time to appeal to the Supreme Court. The four pages set to be released on Wednesday at 6 PM ET are not included in those three tranches of documents, though, according to the National Archives, and Trump’s lawyers have not moved to specifically block them.
“On December 17, 2021, the Counsel to the President directed the Archivist to withhold those records for an additional thirty days—i.e., through today, January 18, 2022—to enable the former President to seek an injunction if he wished,” the filing explains. “Because the former President has not obtained such an injunction from any court, the release will proceed as scheduled absent an intervening court order.”
A lawyer for Trump, Jesse Binnall, responded in court on Wednesday with a threat to have the Biden administration held in contempt of court. “Under no circumstances should the government's misconduct and attempt to create an ad hoc record be sanctioned by this Court,” Binnall wrote. “The weighty issues being considered by the Supreme Court should be decided under the normal course, not by the government's attempt to bypass a lawful injunction.”
But according to the National Archives’ Tuesday filing, contempt would not apply: “This Court specifically stated in its December 9, 2021 decision, however, that its administrative injunction encompassed only records from the first three tranches, which were the only tranches at issue in the appeal.” Trump’s lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to enjoin the release of any contested materials, but that has not (yet) happened. The four pages in question therefore fall outside of the existing circuit court injunction but haven’t yet been addressed by the Supreme Court.
Unless the Supreme Court moves to block the release in the few hours remaining before 6 PM, there is no injunction in the way of the National Archives’ plan. The four pages in question come from the Office of Records Management and are a tiny proportion of the more than 700 pages the select committee is seeking over Trump’s objections. That larger mass of documents includes daily presidential diaries and files from then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, among others.