Former President Donald J. Trump is escalating his efforts to keep approximately 700 pages of White House records secret by appealing to the Supreme Court to withhold them from the Jan. 6 committee.
The Jan. 6 committee is seeking the documents in understanding Trump’s role in trying to overturn the 2020 election, including his appearance at a Jan. 6 rally when he directed followers to go to the U.S. Capitol where lawmakers were set to certify the election results and “fight” for their county. The documents are currently held by the National Archives, CNN reported.
In filings submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday, Trump asked the justices to take up a full review of the case and he requested that while they consider his position, they put a hold on the lower court decision permitting the disclosure of his records while they consider taking up the case.
“The limited interest the Committee may have in immediately obtaining the requested records pales in comparison to President Trump’s interest in securing judicial review before he suffers irreparable harm,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the court filings.
There are reportedly hundreds of documents at stake, including schedules, activity logs, speech notes, and three pages of handwritten notes from then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows – paperwork that could reveal goings-on inside the West Wing as Trump supporters gathered in Washington and then overran the US Capitol, disrupting the certification of the 2020 vote, CNN said.