Trump’s objections to the release of his White House records in Capitol Riot investigations have been dismissed by a court. Trump had exerted effort in blocking the release of these records, but a federal judge in Washington gave a ruling that these documents may be handed over to the House committee tasked with the role of investigating how events unfolded on that day.
Trump was blamed for fuelling these rioters after convincing his loyal supporters that US president Joe Biden stole the elections from him. He used his social media accounts to propel further such allegations, and his fans decided to fight for his honor. Trump’s social media pages have a lot of followers, so his posts were despised for causing violence. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube blocked Trump’s accounts since he misused them and propagated political violence.
An investigation was launched into the unfolding of events when Capitol riots were conducted. Trump managed to block the White House records from being released, but it seems like he cannot steer the ship in that direction anymore. On Tuesday, Judge Tanya Chutkan handed down a disappointing ruling for Trump’s legal team as she gave authority to investigators to analyze White House records.
Such a ruling will allow Congress to obtain Trump’s White House’s materials which were in the hands of the National Archives. National Archives is expected to start transmitting all requested documents to Congress on Friday.
Trump’s attorneys stated that they would appeal the ruling, and the former national leader had sued to block the release of these materials. He took advantage of presidential executive privilege to stop anyone from acquiring his documents [Source]. In pursuing a sue, he said, “We will fight the subpoenas on executive privilege and other grounds for the good of our country, while we wait to find out whether or not subpoenas will be sent out to Antifa and BLM for the death and destruction they have caused.”
He also explained that “Executive privilege will be defended, not just on behalf of my administration and the patriots who worked beside me, but on behalf of the office of the president of the United States and the future of our nation.” But judge Chutkan brought sad news for the over-confidence politician who now needs to find a new angle of defending himself and safeguarding the records. In relation to Trump using executive privilege, Chutkan said, “His position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power ‘exists in perpetuity’… but presidents are not kings, and the plaintiff is not the president” [Source].
Her ruling stated that “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 January 6”. The selection committee’s ruling was doled out in a 39-page document presented to them [Source].
According to the Guardian, the requested documents are sensitive, and they include “visitor logs, telephone records and other documents from the files of Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as well as the former deputy White House counsel Patrick Philibin.”
Congress also wanted video clips recorded on January 6, in which some of them show Trump asking rioters to go home, but also applauding them by saying, “We love you, you’re very special.”
The investigating committee chair, Bennie Thompson, described Chutkan’s ruling as a “big deal” and said, “We have the law on our side, and you know, we are a nation of laws.” This is a huge win for them as they are being given more ammunition to use against Trump. But given Trump’s determination in defending himself, his legal might be busy looking for other avenues to exploit in defending Trump.
