The National Archives was sued by Trump last month to stop them from giving reams of White House papers to the panel. The Jan. 6 select committee is illegitimate, operating without a legislative purpose, and meant to harm him politically.
A federal District Court judge rejected Trump's claims that former presidents have a minimal role in guarding their old records when a sitting president chooses to release them to Congress. The House agreed to a two week delay in obtaining the records in order to give the appeals court time to consider the case.
A win before a three-judge appeals court panel next week would be a huge lift for the House, but likely not the final step. The Supreme Court or the full appeals court bench could still rule in Trump's favor. The House is investigating the attack on the Capitol, which followed Trump's monthslong push to overturn the election, and has homed in on Trump's actions during the final frantic weeks of his term to marshal federal agencies to support his effort.
According to the National Archives, there are daily Presidential diaries, schedules, appointment information, drafts of speeches and correspondence, handwritten notes, call logs, talking points, and email chains. A handwritten note from a former White House chief of staff is one of the documents Trump wants to keep from the Jan.6 panel.
The documents could inform which witnesses to depose and what questions to ask them, as well as whether further subpoenas should be issued to others, according to the committee.
The relationship between Congress and the executive would be weakened by allowing a former president to intervene even if the two branches of government agree.
The National Archives argued in a brief that a former President can't dictate the exercise of governmental authority.
A former President can't stop his successor from taking any action that might be contrary to the agreement he entered into, for example, or from de-classifying information that the former President classified.
