Biden vs. Trump at heart of Jan. 6 records case, executive privilege dispute
House committee from receiving records from his administration.
The House panel is investigating what Trump and his aides were doing on Jan. 6 as a violent mob stormed the Capitol. Trump is fighting the release of hundreds of pages of documents, such as call logs of who he spoke with that day and handwritten notes from aides, which he claims fall under executive privilege. But President Joe Biden has waived executive privilege for the documents.
“What do we do with this dispute between the current and former president?” asked Judge Patricia Millett, who sat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel with Judges Robert Wilkins and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“I think this all boils down to who decides,” Jackson added.
The arguments between lawyers for Trump, the House Jan. 6 committee and the National Archives and Records Administration, which holds the records, was scheduled for 40 minutes and lasted more than 3 ½ hours.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s arguments by ruling that Biden’s waiver of executive privilege outweighed the opinion of his predecessor. Chutkan also refused to block the committee’s access while the case is appealed. But the appeals court postponed the release of the documents while the case is argued.
The documents Trump doesn’t want the Jan. 6 panel to see? Appointments, call logs and handwritten notes Pence and others were rushed to safety.
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One of the thorniest aspects of the case is that it’s not about the separation of powers. Biden agrees that Congress deserves the documents.
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The first batch of documents, which was scheduled for release Nov. 12 and postponed while the appeals court considers the case, included 39 pages that Trump claimed should remain confidential under executive privilege. The pages include handwritten notes about events on Jan. 6, appointments for White House visitors and switchboard checklists showing calls to Trump and Pence, according to a court filing from the National Archives.
Another batch of records, which was scheduled for release Nov. 26 and also postponed by the court, included presidential calendars and handwritten notes about Jan. 6, a draft speech for the Save America March, a handwritten list of potential or scheduled briefings and phone calls concerning election issues and a draft executive order concerning election integrity, according to the agency.
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Boynton also said it would be extraordinary for the court to overrule Biden’s waiver.
“In no other respect that we are aware of does a former president have the ability to block something the current president wants to do,” Boynton said, such as declassifying information, withdraw a state secrets privilege or an executive agreement. “It would extraordinary in any of those circumstances to think that a former president could say, ‘No, no. You can’t do that.’”
Letter argued that if the appeals court rules against Trump, the documents should be released immediately.
“This is interfering with something that is going on right now with immense speed and these are key documents,” Letter said. “They are moving at breakneck speed. Thanksgiving has not slowed us down.”
Trump’s lawyers asked for a 14-day delay in the release, to allow for a possible appeal.