Assault on the Capitol: justice authorizes transmission to Congress of Donald Trump documents

Published on : 11/10/2021 – 08:13

A US court on Tuesday April 9 authorized the transmission to a parliamentary commission of inquiry of documents related to the assault on the Capitol on January 6 by supporters of President 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.

Donald 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 doesn’t 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 at the “Save America” ​​rally, which preceded the attack.

“Presidents are not kings”

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 Washington Post reported.

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 White House, Kayleigh McEnany.

On January 6, thousands of supporters of the Republican president stormed the seat of the US Parliament, 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 election had been stolen from him.

The parliamentary commission of inquiry is seeking testimony from officials who could discuss what the president knew about the assault before it happened, and what he did when the event occurred.

With AFP