CREDIT: (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump’s attorneys argued in their petition to the Supreme Court that “both the Constitution and the Presidential Records Act give former Presidents a clear right to protect their confidential records from premature dissemination. This case presents a clear threat to that right.”
A federal appeals court ruled against Trump two weeks ago, but prohibited documents held by the National Archives from being turned over before the Supreme Court has a chance to weigh in. Trump appointed three of the nine justices.
Trump sued the House Jan. 6 committee and the National Archives to stop the White House from allowing the release of documents related to the insurrection. Trump is claiming that as a former president he has the right to assert executive privilege over the records, arguing that releasing them would damage the presidency in the future.
