The United States Supreme Court just decided against erstwhile President Trump.
It declined to prevent the National Archives from disclosing materials from his presidency to the House committee probing the January 6 Capitol incident.
The top court’s verdict was delivered in a single section and unsigned. Covered by executive privilege, Justice Clarence Thomas is the sole justice who indicated he would have approved Trump’s petition, based on the premise that the information is covered by executive privilege.
Joe Biden, the current president of the United States, has advocated for their release.
Trump WH Docs:
742 pages from Meadows listing calls & briefings re certification, WH office of Executive Clerk, WH Oval Office Operations files, McEnany's files & talking point binders rel to voter fraud/election security, FILES OF STEPHEN MILLER, calendars
⤵️ https://t.co/N6UCbxrgmZ— Mona (@Monaheart1229) January 20, 2022
Presidential Privileges?
“Since the Court of Appeals determined President Trump’s assertions would have collapsed, his position as a former president had no bearing on the court’s determination,” the Supreme Court stated.
The judgment rejects Trump’s planned petition in the case. This means that over 700 pages of mail, phone records, and other data requests will be submitted to the House January 6 Panel’s assessment of the Capitol incident.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who Trump appointed, concurred with the majority decision.
However, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the United States Court of Appeals for allying with a lower court’s rejection of Trump’s October campaign to secure presidential records out of the January 6 review panel.
President Trump “has given no justification for this court to overrule President Biden’s decision or the understanding and concessions reached between both political branches about these records,” the appeals court stated.
Respectfully, Kavanaugh said, he disagreed with the appeals court’s judgment.
“A past president must be able to properly utilize the presidential conversations privilege for interactions made during his presidency, even if the sitting president does not back the privilege assertion,” he explained.
These are the documents the Supreme Court says the House Select Committee now can have access to. pic.twitter.com/bRu8HRyVRy
— Katelyn Polantz (@kpolantz) January 20, 2022
The ‘Urgency’
The House panel probing the unrest has been steadfast about the “urgency and importance” of settling the court case over the National Archives documents.
“Postponement will have no adverse effect on respondents,” Donald Trump’s attorneys responded, in regards to the House panel. “Despite their stress on the urgency of the probe, it has been more than a year since January 6, 2021.”
The National Archives was scheduled to provide the first few pages on Wednesday at 6 p.m. if the Supreme Court did not intervene to prevent their publication.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a win for justice, the legal system, and the people of America. As the courts have long stated, no one is above the law, not even the past president who stirred up the January 6th uprising,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a release.
“Reviewing papers that former President Trump attempted to conceal from the American people is critical to comprehending the circumstances leading up to and during the tragic rebellion and its repercussions, as well as to ensuring that it never occurs again.”
