US Supreme Court ends Trump's bid to shield Capitol attack records
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The Supreme Court has formally ended Trump's bid to block the release of White House records relating to the Capitol Hill attack last year.
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US Supreme Court ends Trump's bid to shield Capitol attack records.
The US Supreme Court finally terminated former President Donald Trump's quest to prevent the release of White House records relating to last year's Capitol attack to congressional investigators on Tuesday.
The court's decision, released in an unsigned ruling with no explanation, came after it rejected Trump's emergency plea to protect the materials stored by the National Archives last month.
Several hundred rioters claiming the vote was rigged stormed the Capitol on January 6, as Congress was about to officially certify Biden's victory.
The court of appeals detailed that "the right of a former president certainly enjoys no greater weight than that of the incumbent."
As a former President, Trump attempted to use his executive privilege to hide the records, however, the US Federal Court of Appeals decided that the current President could override this privilege and have the documents reviewed by a Congressional panel to investigate Trump supporters' violence on the day.
Trump has been repeatedly accused of inciting the violence that occurred.
The public accountability watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in a statement, "We expected this to happen after the Court voted 8-1 to deny Trump's request to block documents while they considered his petition for review."
Over 600 people are facing accusations over their role in the insurgence; however, the committee is currently aiming to hold Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist and Trump's Counselor, in criminal contempt of congress for his defiance of the committee's demands for documents and testimony.
The resolution lists the many ways Bannon was involved in the leadup to the insurrection, including reports that he encouraged the former President to focus on January 6, the day of the certification of Biden's victory. He also made a comment on January 5, saying, "All hell is going to break loose" the next day.
