The U.S. Supreme Court rejected, 8-1, a request by former President Donald Trump to stop the release of presidential records pursued by the January 6 Committee, dealing a major blow to Trump’s months-long campaign to keep the records about the Capitol attack away from investigators.
The presidential records are currently housed at the National Archives and Records Administration and with Wednesday’s order from the high court, that means that transmission of the documents to the committee could begin as soon as this evening.
The Supreme Court refused to consider Trump’s appeal of two lower court rulings that, ultimately, found the public interest well outweighed Trump’s interest to keep Congress, and America, in the dark.
The only justice to dissent Wednesday was Justice Clarence Thomas.
“Because the Court of Appeals concluded that President Trump’s claims would have failed even if he were the incumbent, his status as a former president necessarily made no difference to the court’s decision…. any discussion of the Court of Appeals concerning President Trump’s status as a former president must therefore be regarded as nonbinding dicta,” the four-page opinion stated.
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The court’s order on Wednesday puts an end to Trump’s quest to stop the Archives from turning over records that include: logs, diaries, memos, internal correspondence, calendars, speech drafts, photos as they relate to Jan. 6; documents and communications related to the “movement and protection” of former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6 as well as items related, in any way, to the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, the ensuing march to the Capitol and any strategy about the counting of electoral votes.
White House visitor logs and documents prepared, seen, or sent by officials within the White House Situation Room or White House Operations Center on Jan. 6, including notes by officers, were also demanded.
Investigators also sought any correspondence among Trump White House officials like Mark Meadows, Peter Navarro, Stephen Miller, and numerous others. Many of the figures highlighted by the committee in August have already received subpoenas from the Jan. 6 Committee. Many are reportedly cooperating though many more are not.
Legal strategizing by the committee over how to compel less cooperative witnesses is well underway.
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Trump unsuccessfully argued that the presidential records should be kept secret under executive privilege and his lawyers bid to establish that the Jan. 6 Committee lacked legislative purpose also failed.
The ubiquitous Trump chants of “witch hunt” and unfair politicization dominated his attempts to keep the records away from lawmakers but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia emphasized to Trump that while he had rights to executive privilege, it was President Joe Biden’s decision to waive the privilege that overruled him.
In a statement by Justice Brett Kavanaugh built into Wednesday’s opinion, Kavanaugh said that a former president “must be able to successfully invoke the presidential communications privilege for communications that occurred during his presidency, even if the current president does not support the privilege claim.”
Nonetheless, Kavanaugh still voted with the majority of justices.
The Jan. 6 committee did not immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday night.
The decision by the Supreme Court marks a major victory for investigators but the wheels keep turning; just as news of the order broke, the committee released an announcement saying that it had issued two more subpoenas.
America First movement leader Nicholas Fuentes and associate Patrick Caesy were summoned for their records and testimony about efforts to overturn the election.
Reports have also suggested that the men—who have reportedly since fallen out of favor with one another—also received sizeable Bitcoin donations in the amount of $250,000 and $25,000 respectively.
The FBI, the committee noted, has been reviewing the source of that funding, a French computer programmer, to determine if it was used to fund any rallies or activity tied to Jan. 6.
Casey has already informed the committee he would not voluntarily cooperate.
Deadlines for Fuentes and Casey to respond to the subpoenas have been set for early February.
The presidential records are currently housed at the National Archives and Records Administration and with Wednesday’s order from the high court, that means that transmission of the documents to the committee could begin as soon as this evening.
The Supreme Court refused to consider Trump’s appeal of two lower court rulings that, ultimately, found the public interest well outweighed Trump’s interest to keep Congress, and America, in the dark.
The only justice to dissent Wednesday was Justice Clarence Thomas.
“Because the Court of Appeals concluded that President Trump’s claims would have failed even if he were the incumbent, his status as a former president necessarily made no difference to the court’s decision…. any discussion of the Court of Appeals concerning President Trump’s status as a former president must therefore be regarded as nonbinding dicta,” the four-page opinion stated.
Scribd Content
Trump v Thompson SCOTUS Dec... by Daily Kos
The court’s order on Wednesday puts an end to Trump’s quest to stop the Archives from turning over records that include: logs, diaries, memos, internal correspondence, calendars, speech drafts, photos as they relate to Jan. 6; documents and communications related to the “movement and protection” of former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6 as well as items related, in any way, to the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, the ensuing march to the Capitol and any strategy about the counting of electoral votes.
White House visitor logs and documents prepared, seen, or sent by officials within the White House Situation Room or White House Operations Center on Jan. 6, including notes by officers, were also demanded.
Investigators also sought any correspondence among Trump White House officials like Mark Meadows, Peter Navarro, Stephen Miller, and numerous others. Many of the figures highlighted by the committee in August have already received subpoenas from the Jan. 6 Committee. Many are reportedly cooperating though many more are not.
Legal strategizing by the committee over how to compel less cooperative witnesses is well underway.
Scribd Content
National Archives Record Re... by Daily Kos
Trump unsuccessfully argued that the presidential records should be kept secret under executive privilege and his lawyers bid to establish that the Jan. 6 Committee lacked legislative purpose also failed.
The ubiquitous Trump chants of “witch hunt” and unfair politicization dominated his attempts to keep the records away from lawmakers but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia emphasized to Trump that while he had rights to executive privilege, it was President Joe Biden’s decision to waive the privilege that overruled him.
In a statement by Justice Brett Kavanaugh built into Wednesday’s opinion, Kavanaugh said that a former president “must be able to successfully invoke the presidential communications privilege for communications that occurred during his presidency, even if the current president does not support the privilege claim.”
Nonetheless, Kavanaugh still voted with the majority of justices.
The Jan. 6 committee did not immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday night.
The decision by the Supreme Court marks a major victory for investigators but the wheels keep turning; just as news of the order broke, the committee released an announcement saying that it had issued two more subpoenas.
America First movement leader Nicholas Fuentes and associate Patrick Caesy were summoned for their records and testimony about efforts to overturn the election.
Reports have also suggested that the men—who have reportedly since fallen out of favor with one another—also received sizeable Bitcoin donations in the amount of $250,000 and $25,000 respectively.
The FBI, the committee noted, has been reviewing the source of that funding, a French computer programmer, to determine if it was used to fund any rallies or activity tied to Jan. 6.
Casey has already informed the committee he would not voluntarily cooperate.
Deadlines for Fuentes and Casey to respond to the subpoenas have been set for early February.