(Washington) A US court on Thursday granted former US President Donald Trump’s request to temporarily suspend publication of White House documents that could implicate him in the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill.
These documents are requested by the special committee of the House of Representatives investigating the assault, and their publication was ordered Tuesday by a federal judge in the name of “the public interest” to understand “the events that led to the assault. January 6 ”.
Seized by the billionaire’s lawyers, an appeals court said Thursday that it had granted an “administrative injunction” and set the proceedings for November 30.
The court, composed of three judges, clarified that this decision “should in no case be interpreted as a decision on the merits” of the case.
On January 6, thousands of Donald Trump supporters gathered in Washington as Congress certified the victory of his Democratic rival Joe Biden in the November 2020 presidential election.
PHOTO LEAH MILLIS, REUTERS ARCHIVES
The former real estate mogul had addressed the crowd, hammering, baselessly, that the election had been “stolen” from him. Several hundred demonstrators then launched an assault on the temple of American democracy, sowing chaos and violence even in the hemicycle.
Joe Biden has already given his approval for the publication of some 770 pages of documents which are kept at the National Archives, part of which was due to be sent to Congress on Friday.
They include the files of former close advisers to Donald Trump as well as the daily newspaper of the White House – an account of his activities, trips, briefings and phone calls.
Other documents the former president does not want Congress to see include memos to his former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, a handwritten note on the events of January 6, and a draft text of his speech. during the “Save America” rally, which preceded the attack.
Donald Trump, who denies any responsibility for the coup, invokes the right of the executive to keep certain information secret to block the disclosure of the minutes of his meetings or the list of his phone calls.