(Washington) 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 several 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 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 when 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 House- Blanche, Kayleigh McEnany.
PHOTO BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Former White House spokesman Kayleigh McEnany
“As a White House spokesperson you have made numerous public statements in the White House and elsewhere about 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.
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 campaign manager Bill Stepien.
As part of this investigation, the commission has already interviewed more than 150 people, according to Republican elected representative Liz Cheney.