On Wednesday, a federal judge rejected the emergency request by former President Donald Trump to keep a number of White House records from being handed to lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol Invasion.
Trump's legal team will now seek an appeals court to prevent the National Archives from disclosing those records to the House select Committee that is conducting the investigation. On Friday, David Ferriero, the U.S. Archivist, is expected to begin turning over these documents.
This latest ruling was issued one day after U.S. district judge Tanya Chutkan rejected two attempts by Trump's attorney to prevent the release of the disputed documents.
Chutkan stated Wednesday night that Trump has not presented any new facts or arguments to persuade the court that Trump requested essentially the same relief in his initial preliminary injunction motion.
Trump had already submitted notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit and that he was "therefore free" to petition the Court for relief before Friday.
Chutkan stated that "this court will not ignore its own reasoning in denial of injunctive Relief in the first place to grant it now."
A day earlier, Trump had unsuccessfully tried to stop the National Archives giving House investigators a tranche containing records from his time at the White House. This included communications regarding strategies to alter Biden's Electoral College win.
Jesse Binnall was Trump's lawyer. He argued that many documents should be kept secret because they were protected under executive privilege. This doctrine allows certain executive branch dealings to remain confidential. President Joe Biden refused to infringe privilege on the disputed documents.
In a 39-page opinion, the judge stated that Trump's view "appears to be premised upon the notion that Trump's executive power 'exists forever'. However, presidents are not kings and Plaintiff is not the President.
The Tuesday night ruling was made hours after Chutkan had denied an emergency request for an interim injunction. Chutkan appealed to the D.C. circuit Court.
This request was denied by the judge on procedural grounds. She called it "premature" as she hadn't yet issued a final judgement in the case.
Trump's lawyer filed a notice to appeal less than an hour following Chutkan's Tuesday night ruling.
The select committee will investigate the causes and facts of the Jan. 6th invasion. This was when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed Capitol forcing a joint session to leave their chambers.
It has pledged to move quickly with its probe, including issuing subpoenas to witnesses as a first line to reach out to them if they are not cooperative.
The panel has already announced 16 additional subpoenas to request testimony and documents from at least 16 other Trump associates. These include ex-campaign advisor Jason Miller and Michael Flynn, and John Eastman and Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary, and Stephen Miller, former senior advisor.
