According to the National Archives, many files were taken from the systems of Trump aides such as Stephen Miller, Patrick Philbin, and Mark Meadows (ex-Chairman of Staff), according to reports.
Other documents include a draft text of a presidential address for the January 6, 2021 Save America March; a handwritten listing of potential briefings or telephone calls regarding election issues; and a Draft Executive Order concerning electoral integrity. A draft proclamation to honor the fallen Capitol Police officers Brian Sicknick, and associated emails from the Office of the Executive Clerk that relate to the Select Committees involvement in the White House's response to the Capitol attack.
These records are all related to January 6th events and could be used by the Select Committees investigation. They may also help the Select Committees investigation into January 6, including the White House attack immediately before, during, and after January 6.
Since the Jan. 6 select Committee requested them in August, the documents were unearthed by the National Archives in four separate tranches. Trump filed a lawsuit to stop their release on October 15 and asked a federal judge for an emergency order preventing the National Archives from transferring them to the committee.
In response to Trump's lawsuit, the National Archives filed its filing. It sought an emergency court order to stop Ferriero transmitting the documents to Congress. Trump claimed that disclosure of the documents would end executive privilege and represent an unprecedented intrusion on the executive branch.
The archives rejected Trump's legal arguments and emphasized that the Jan.6 committees requests were specifically tailored to it investigation. President Joe Biden had also made the clearly reasonable decision to reject Trumps claims to privilege.
The filing suggests that even assuming executive privilege is applicable, the documents could help the Select Committee to understand efforts to communicate with Americans, including those who attacked Capitol on January 6th, on the topics of voter fraud, election security and other topics related to the 2020 election.
Trump's attempt to suppress more that 750 pages of records was far greater than previously thought. It includes documents from three distinct tranches, which were identified by the National Archives in October as a response to a Jan. 6 select committee request.
The Jan. 6 Select Committee states in its own filing that Trump's attempt to stymie his investigation must be rejected by a federal court or it will leave future elections open to abuse.
The panel believes that Trump's and his allies' continued efforts to undermine confidence in federal elections makes it more urgent for the committees to have access to Trump's White House records to better understand his attempts to reverse the 2020 election results.
House Counsel Doug Letter, House Counsel, writes that the urgency of the work cannot overstated in his 52-page legal brief sent Friday night to Judge Tanya Chutkan. The threat of attack that was launched on January 6th is still ongoing. Trump and others continue to falsely claim that the election was stolen.
On Thursday, Chutkan will hold a hearing about Trump's attempt to prevent access to his records. She is one of the most vocal judges on the Washington, D.C. federal bench who called the Jan. 6 attack by Trump-supporting rioters a fundamental attack on democracy. Multiple rioters were killed and over 140 officers were hurt in the chaos of that day.
Ferriero indicated that he will turn over the first tranche of documents no later than Nov. 12, unless ordered otherwise by a court.
Trump claims that the investigation by the committee was political and any attempts to obtain his documents will undermine the president's ability to speak candidly with advisers or allies in the future.
The committee strongly rejects these claims in its latest filing. It notes that Biden already deemed the inquiry meritorious, and that Trump's unique role in promoting false claims regarding the election warrants an extensive recounting of his actions.
Mr. The committee claims that Trump is a case of one. Trump isas of right nowthe only failed presidential candidate to not concede. He spent months spreading lies about his election to encourage a self-coup to illegally keep him in power or to provoke a mob attack on the Capitol. It is crucial to examine the legislative options that can stop such acts from happening again.
The committee also stated that Trump's lawsuit could endanger efforts to understand the events of Jan. 6, and prevent similar attacks on American democracy in the future.
The committee emphasizes Biden's agreement with lawmakers regarding the urgency of the probe. It cites Nixon-era precedents to point out that former presidents are less legally authorized to request confidentiality of Executive Branch records.
It also argues that this is the first instance of a sitting president opposing a privilege claim made by a former president. Biden's claim should prevail, it claims, because the courts have ruled that the current president has a better view of how to protect Executive Branch interests.
The Select Committees pressing need to obtain information in order to pass legislation that is vitally important to democracy's democracy, President Biden stated.
Biden repeatedly refused to claim executive privilege over records requested by the Jan.6 committee. However, the panel delayed a request for approximately 50 pages that were identified by National Archives as relevant. The committee members stated that the decision was made to avoid any potential delays due to privilege concerns.
Trump's claim that a Supreme Court ruling in a separate case meant the House could not obtain his financial records in 2019, was rejected by the Jan. 6 committee. The committee stated that the ruling only addressed personal papers of the sitting president and not official records of an ex-president.
Trump also claimed that his documents were not required by the committee and that the panel could continue its legislative goals without needing records he considers to be privileged. The committee deemed this absurd.
The committee states that the long public record of Trump's actions and statements... gives ample basis for seeking the nonpublic records of the attackers in the White House. A probe that didn't insist on Mr. Trump's communications and documents would be more than pointless. It would be like staging Hamlet without the Prince.
