Court rules Trump can’t shield records tied to Jan. 6

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Congress may see White House records of former President Donald Trump’s communications and movements related to the Capitol attack Jan. 6, rejecting his claim that the material should remain secret.

In a 68-page ruling, a threejudge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that Congress’s oversight powers, backed by President Joe Biden’s decision not to invoke executive privilege over the material, outweighed Trump’s residual secrecy powers.

“On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the political branches over these documents,” Judge Patricia Millett wrote. “Both branches agree that there is a unique legislative need for these documents, and that they are directly relevant to the committee’s inquiry into an attack on the legislative branch and its constitutional role in the peaceful transfer of power.”

Trump is almost certain to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. If the appeals court panel declines to stay its ruling while that process plays out, the case may swiftly reach the justices as an emergency request to prevent the National Archives from immediately turning over the material.

The case has raised novel and untested constitutional questions about the scope and limits of a former president’s ability to keep records from his administration secret when his successor declines to invoke executive privilege.

In response to the attack, Biden and Congress “have each made the judgment that access to this subset of presidential communication records is necessary to address a matter of great constitutional moment for the Republic,” Millett wrote. “Former President Trump has given this court no legal reason to cast aside President Biden’s assessment of the executive branch interests at stake or to create a separation of powers conflict that the political branches have avoided.”