US Judge Questions Trump's Suit to maintain January 6 Documents Secret
3 Min Read
A US judge questions former US President Donald Trump's lawsuit to prevent the release of White House records that may indicate his involvement in the January 6 Capitol storming.
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The judge expressed doubts over Trump's claim of presidential privileges to keep communication data dating back to January 6 under seal.
A Washington judge questioned Thursday former president Donald Trump's suit to block the release of White House records that could implicate him or his aides in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Four weeks after President Joe Biden approved the release of the records, Judge Tanya Chutkan expressed doubts over Trump's claim of presidential executive privilege to keep the communications and visitor logs related to that day under seal.
The documents have been sought by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 violence, in which hundreds of Trump supporters forced the shutdown of Congress and delayed a joint session to confirm that Biden had won the November election and would become president.
Trump's suit sought a stay to halt the release of the documents, arguing that as a former president he retained privileges to protect his work and communications.
Judge Chutkan: The former president's rights are less significant
"The former president has rights with respect to asserting privilege," said Trump attorney Justin Clark.
But Chutkan challenged him to cite any precedent for that, given Biden's ruling.
"How should I weigh a previous president's assertion of privilege when the current president says there is none?" she asked.
The judge mentioned that "The former president's rights are less significant because he is a former president."
She also challenged Clark's claim that the Select Committee, which has also subpoenaed Trump aides to testify, has no legitimate reason to seek the documents.
"There needs to be at least a legislative purpose behind the request," Clark said.
This attack didn't just come out of nowhere
An attorney representing the committee, Douglas Letter, said they wanted to show that Trump encouraged the attack by stoking anger among supporters.
"This attack didn't just come out of nowhere," Letter told the court.
"Many attempts have been made before the election to try to build major mistrust... so that if President Trump did lose, he would be able to say that it was unfair and generate a lot of anger in ways that led to January 6," he said.
Letter said that even if the court viewed that some documents should be excluded, it should not prevent the bulk of them from being released to the committee.
Chutkan, noting the urgency of Trump's request for a stay to block the release, said she would rule "expeditiously."
