US appeals court rejects Trump's bid to conceal Jan 6. records from Congress committee

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld decision to release White House records to US House panel, known as the Select Committee, probing into January 6 Capitol Riots. The ruling comes after ex-US President Donald Trump argued that the records, which are held by the National Archives, are protected by "executive privilege" that protects White House documents from being made public. Not only did the Select Committee object to Trump's claims, but President Joe Biden had also earlier waived privileged over the disputed records.

"On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override president Biden's judgement and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the political branches over these documents... For those reasons we affirm the District Court judgement denying a preliminary injunction as to those documents in the Archivist's first three tranches over which president Biden has determined that a claim of executive privilege is not justified," the Thursday ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said, as quoted by Sputnik.

The court's statement also added that the "Legislative Branch has shown a national interest in and pressing need for prompt disclosure of these documents," CNBC broadcaster reported, citing the three-judge appeals panel, as said in the 68-page statement. The decision came in line with the opinion of a lower federal court judge, who ruled last month that in the disputes between former and incumbent presidents, the decision of the latter will be "accorded with greater weight." Meanwhile, the Select Committee is yet to decide whether to file contempt charges against former Trump advisor Mark Meadows, who was the Chief of Staff during the Jan 6 Capitol Riots. As per reports, Meadows had filed charges against US Speaker Nancy Pelosi and all nine members of the panel. He had also appealed to the court to void the subpoena issued to him by the Select Committee.

Trump to appeal to the Supreme Court

Emphasising that the Jan 6 attack "exposed the fragility of democratic institutions," the appellate judges signified that Biden and Congress have made the judgement that the access to the subset of White House documents (presidential communication) is mandatory for an investigation into the "great constitutional moment for the Republic," CNBC reported, citing the unanimous decision of the judges' panel. Currently, the panel has offered two weeks to Trump to ask the high court to take up the appeal before the court-ordered stall on the controversial records is revoked. Meanwhile, Trump's spokesperson shared via Twitter post that the ex-president's lawyers are now looking forward to appealing to uphold the stall on Jan 6. records.

The January 6 US Capitol attack

On January 6, 2021, over 500 sympathisers of Republican President Donald Trump attacked the United States Capitol in Washington DC seeking to overturn the ex-president's defeat in the 2020 Presidential elections by disrupting the joint session of the Congress that had assembled to determine the electoral votes. The said vote count officially formalised incumbent President Joe Biden's win. The rioters infringed on the federal complex and vandalised the building for several hours. After the attack, the FBI launched a probe into the matter and at least 700 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states, as reported by Associated Press. On Wednesday, a 41-year old man from Michigan was arrested for alleged use of chemical spray on law enforcement officers on the riot day.  

(Image: AP)