DESPERATE DON PLEA
Asks Supremes to stop Jan. 6 panel from getting his papers
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday filed a last ditch appeal to the Supreme Court to keep his White House documents away from the congressional committee investigating the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Trump claims that his executive privilege means the documents should be kept secret even though most legal experts say the privilege can only be asserted by a sitting president.
He called the committee “sleazebags” in an email statement issued around the same time as the filing and accused it of “speaking with fake reverence about” Jan. 6.
A trial court and federal appeals court panel have issued sharply worded decisions that President Biden has every right to release the documents, which reportedly include potentially damaging hand-written notes detailing Trump’s inaction as a violent mob of his supporters swarmed the Capitol.
But the Supreme Court is dominated by arch-conservatives and Trump himself appointed three of the justices.
The top court could agree to hear Trump’s appeal, effectively keeping the documents under wraps for now. Or it could reject the appeal, in which case they would be quickly provided to the panel.
It’s not known when the court might rule on the appeal.
Trump claims that releasing a former president’s records would damage future administrations. Biden and the Democratic-led Congress agrees it’s in the public interest to release the documents.
The bombshell papers include presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts, handwritten notes “concerning the events of January 6 from the files of former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and “a draft Executive Order on the topic of election integrity,” the Archives has said.
The House committee has said the records are vital to its investigation into the run-up to the deadly riot that was aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election and keeping Trump in power.
Trump regularly attacks the committee as a group of partisan hacks intent on persecuting him and his allies.
“The people being persecuted by the January 6th Unselect Committee should simply tell the truth, that they are angry about the RIGGED Presidential Election of 2020,” Trump said in email statement.
Critics say Trump is panicking because the panel is closing in on him, especially after Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) suggested those who led the effort to overturn the election results could face prosecution.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan is waffling on a request to testify to the Jan. 6 committee.
The MAGA hardliner from Ohio said he has “real concerns” but did not rule out appearing before the panel of his fellow lawmakers, which he ironically once aimed to join.
Jordan has already been named as one of the Trump allies in Congress who was working with the White House to concoct an unconstitutional scheme to reject Biden’s victory in several swing states.
The former Ohio State wrestling coach has also admitted calling Trump on the day of the storming of the Capitol. He claims not to remember exactly when or why they spoke.