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Trump Sues Jan. 6th Committee Over Records Request

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There was never any doubt that Donald Trump would be looking to stifle Nancy Pelosi’s select committee on January 6th, but his latest legal maneuvering has come as a bit of a surprise, if for no other reason than its swiftness.

Trump, like many Republicans, is likely of the impression that the select committee is looking to do little more than have a rerun of his second impeachment trial, this time attempting to conjure an ending that isn’t nearly as benign for the former President.  And, judging by the targeted subpoenas that we’ve seen thus far, he’s right on the money.

And that’s why Trump is taking a litigious slant early, attempting to limit just what sort of White House documents Pelosi can get her hands on.

Donald Trump is suing the Jan. 6 select committee and the National Archives to block the release of his White House’s records related to the Capitol attack.

The former president’s lawyers filed the 26-page suit in D.C. district court on Monday, declaring the committee’s investigation “a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition.” It names the Jan. 6 panel’s chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), and the national archivist, David Ferriero, along with the committee and the archives themselves.

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Trump’s legal team contends that the Jan. 6 panel’s push for voluminous records from his administration — such as his internal communications with lawyers, campaign operatives and senior officials — would shatter the notion of executive privilege. In their suit, Trump’s lawyers ask a federal judge to invalidate the entire request from the select committee, to block the Archives from turning over any materials to Congress in response to the request, and to specifically block the Archives from turning over any documents that Trump says are covered by executive privilege.

And then, in a genius appeal to keep this mess from spilling over into the 2022 midterms…

Trump’s team is also asking for the court to have the Archives first identify all documents from Trump’s White House that could be responsive to the request, then let Trump’s lawyers fully review them before sharing them with Congress. That process could take years.

The news comes just days after it was revealed that the select committee would be seeking criminal contempt charges against Steve Bannon, the first of the former Trump aides to defy their subpoenas citing the necessity of a ruling on executive privilege.

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About the Author:
As a lifelong advocate for the dream promised us in the Constitution, Andrew West has spent his years authoring lush prose editorial dirges regarding America's fall from grace and her path back to prosperity. When West isn't railing against the offensive whims of the mainstream media or the ideological cruelty that is so rampant in the US, he spends his time seeking adventurous new food and fermented beverages, with the occasional round of golf peppered in.




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