Friday November 12th 2021
Court stops file release
Trump gains time in the Capitol attack process
A committee of inquiry is to review the storming of the Capitol. Trump can stop the disclosure of documents for this at the last minute. But only for the time being: The US court emphasizes that the postponement should “in no way” be misunderstood as a decision in the matter.
In the legal dispute over the surrender of documents for the processing of the storming of the Capitol, the former US President Donald Trump obtained a last minute reprieve in court. A day before the documents from his time in the White House were to be handed over to a House of Representatives committee of inquiry, a federal court in Washington approved an urgent application by Trump on Thursday. As a result of the court’s injunction, the National Archives are now initially prohibited from handing over the documents to Congress.
The court stressed that the postponement should “in no way” be misunderstood as a decision on the matter. The case is now to be heard on November 30th. Trump wants to ensure that the documents from his reign regarding the Capitol attack in January remain secret. He has failed in court so far – most recently on Tuesday in the same federal court in Washington. Trump’s lawyers then filed an urgent application on Thursday to buy time.
Trump insists on the so-called executive privilege. This is the president’s prerogative to withhold certain information from Congress or the courts. However, the court said on Tuesday that executive privilege exists to protect the government and not a single person who is also no longer president. The White House has already announced that Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, will not stop the transfer of documents from the National Archives.
Supporters of Trump stormed the seat of the US Congress on January 6th. Five people were killed, including a police officer. Trump had to face impeachment proceedings for the attack because he had previously incited his supporters in a speech. At the end of the trial, however, he was acquitted.