A US court on Tuesday authorized the transmission to a parliamentary commission of inquiry of documents related to the assault on the Capitol on January 6 by supporters of Donald Trump despite the former president’s attempts to keep them secret.
“The court maintains that the public interest requires responding favorably to the joint wishes of the legislative and executive branches to study the events leading up to January 6,” Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in her decision, broadcast by multiple media. Americans.
Donald Trump wanted in particular to prevent the dissemination to the House of Representatives committee of inquiry, controlled by the Democrats, of hundreds of documents including the lists of people who visited him or called him on the day of the attack on the Capitol. .
The more than 770 pages of documents include the files of his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, his former senior adviser Stephen Miller and his former deputy adviser Patrick Philbin.
Mr. Trump also hoped to block the publication of the White House daily newspaper – 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.
The Republican billionaire had notably invoked the right of the executive to keep certain information secret.
“Presidents are not kings and the plaintiff is not president,” however asserted Judge Chutkan in the court document.
Donald Trump’s lawyers have already expressed their wish to appeal the ruling, the government reported. Washington post.
Judge Chutkan’s announcement comes as the parliamentary committee investigating the assault on Congress launched a new round of subpoenas on Tuesday for relatives of the former president, including his former spokesperson at the White House , Kayleigh McEnany.
“As a White House spokesperson, you have made numerous public statements in the White House and elsewhere regarding alleged fraud in the November 2020 election, [des allégations] echoed by the people who attacked the Capitol on January 6, ”says the commission in the summons against Mr.me McEnany.
A close advisor to Donald Trump, Stephen Miller was also subpoenaed, for having prepared with his team the speech given by the Republican billionaire at the January 6 rally which took place near the White House, shortly before the attack on Congress.
“Relevant information”
Other relatives of Mr Trump featured in this new round of summons are Nicholas Luna, assistant to the former president, Christopher Liddell, the former deputy chief of staff at the White House, and Keith Kellogg, former national security adviser to then Vice President Mike Pence.
“We believe that the witnesses subpoenaed today have relevant information and we expect them to collaborate in the investigation,” said commission chairman, Democrat elected Bennie Thompson. The parliamentary committee announced other summons on Monday, including members of Donald Trump’s campaign team, such as Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to the former Republican president, or his former director of Bill Stepien campaign.
As part of this investigation, the commission has already interviewed more than 150 people, according to Republican elected representative Liz Cheney.