Former President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to block the National Archives from handing over documents sought by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump’s lawyers made the last-ditch plea to the nation’s highest court, asking it to reverse lower court decisions to release the records after President Biden waived executive privilege over the documents.
A federal appeals court ruled earlier this month the House committee had a “uniquely vital interest” in the documents and Trump “provided no basis” for the court to override Biden.
The select committee is seeking a variety of documents — including visitor logs, phone records, presidential diaries, speech drafts and hand-written notes — related to the events leading up to Jan. 6 from then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ files in the archives.
The National Archives also holds documents from other Trump officials — including senior adviser Stephen Miller and former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, among others.
The committee is also seeking a “draft Executive Order on the topic of election integrity,” written by a lawyer working with the White House, that details how Vice President Mike Pence could overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election by rejecting the slate of electors put forward by certain states.
Pence said he had no constitutional authority to reject the electors, allowing Congress to certify the vote for President Biden.
The National Archives said it would turn over the documents unless a court intervenes.
Trump’s lawyers argued in their filing that former presidents have “a clear right to protect their confidential records from premature dissemination.”
“Congress cannot engage in meandering fishing expeditions in the hopes of embarrassing President Trump or exposing the President’s and his staff’s sensitive and privileged communications ‘for the sake of exposure,'” they said.
With Post wires