(Washington) Former US President Donald Trump has taken legal action to block the release of White House documents relating to his supporters’ assault on Capitol Hill, according to a court record released Monday.
The billionaire invoked the executive’s right to keep certain information secret to prevent former aides from providing evidence to Congress, further escalation in the Republican tycoon’s campaign to block investigators looking into the deadly assault on the 6th. January.
The proceedings brought by Donald Trump are expected to trigger a test of strength in the courts that may well test the constitutional authority of Congress to review the actions of the executive branch of power.
Thousands of supporters of the Republican president stormed the seat of the US Parliament on January 6, in an attempt to block Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Earlier in the day, Donald Trump gave a speech to a crowd a few hundred yards away, arguing – without merit – that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him.
“The commission’s request is nothing more than a vexatious and illegal attempt to fish for information, openly supported by Biden and designed to unconstitutionally investigate President Trump and his administration,” the complaint points out. filed in a Washington court.
Parliamentary investigators are seeking testimony from officials who could discuss what the president knew about the assault before it happened, and what he did when it happened.
Since the end of August, the National Archives has sent numerous official documents requested by investigators to the teams of Mr. Trump and President Biden, giving them 30 days to review them.
In its case law, the Supreme Court has ruled that presidents have the right to keep certain documents and interviews confidential in order to ensure more frank discussions with their advisers.
Donald Trump is far from the first American president to have used this privilege.
However, no court has said that the latter applied to former presidents. For now, current President Joe Biden has the final say on the matter, and has already claimed he would allow the release of a first batch of documents, dismissing the objections of his predecessor.
Donald Trump’s complaint asks a federal judge to declare any request from the commission as inadmissible and to prevent the National Archives from sending any documents.
The former president has already asked his key aides, from his last chief of staff Mark Meadows to his political strategy adviser Steve Bannon, to ignore subpoenas to appear before the parliamentary commission of inquiry.