Court Filing Lists Documents Trump Seeks to Withhold on Capitol Assault
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The National Archives laid out which documents with regards to the Capitol assault Trump was asserting executive privilege over, to prevent reviewing them.
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Trump is trying to prevent the release of documents relating to the January 6 Capitol insurrection
A court filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia laid out exactly what documents pertaining to the Capitol attack on January 6 former President Trump is blocking from release, asserting executive privilege.
Trump has sued the January 6 Committee investigating the attack to prevent the National Archives from transmitting hundreds of documents to it.
Hundreds of pages of documents
Among the hundreds of pages of documents Trump does not want to be revealed are call logs, drafts of remarks and speeches, and handwritten notes from his Chief of Staff. Specifically, he is blocking the release of 770 pages of documents, including 46 pages of records from his former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, his former Senior Advisor, Stephen Miller, and Patrick Philbin, his former Deputy Counsel.
This includes the release of the White House Daily Diary, which includes the President's movements, phone calls, trips, briefings, meetings, and activities.
Trump has also asserted executive privilege over 656 pages that include proposed talking points with his former Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, a handwritten note on the Jan. 6 attack, a draft text of a presidential speech for the rally that preceded the attack, and a draft executive order on the topic of election integrity.
A House committee voted last week to find former Trump advisor Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
Biden for prosecuting those responsible for Capitol assault
US President Joe Biden had said two weeks ago that the US Department of Justice should prosecute those refusing to testify before a congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Hundreds of supporters of former US President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol on January 6 in a bid to overturn his electoral defeat, battling police in the hallways and delaying the certification of US President-elect Joe Biden’s victory for hours. The US Capitol riot ended with four deaths, according to local police.
The measure taken by President Trump puts the ability to preserve the secrecy of these documents in court to test, which could lead Congress to review executive privilege.
