Donald Trump asks Supreme Court to block release of US Capitol attack records

The former president is making a last-ditch bid to keep documents away from lawmakers investigating the January 6 insurrection

Trump had promoted false theories about election fraud both before and after the attack by his supporters

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Former US president Donald Trump looks on during his first post-presidency campaign rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio, in June. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:57am, 24 Dec 2021Updated: 2:43pm, 24 Dec 2021

Former US president Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court on Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol led by his supporters.

Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to reverse lower court rulings against the their client, who has fought to block the records even after President Joe Biden waived executive privilege over them.

The federal appeal court in Washington previously ruled the committee had a “uniquely vital interest” in the documents and Trump had “provided no basis” for it to override Biden and Congress.

The records include presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts, handwritten notes “concerning the events of January 6” from the files of former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and “a draft Executive Order on the topic of election integrity”, according to a previous court filing from the National Archives.

Trump’s filing came on the day that an administrative injunction issued by the appeal court was set to otherwise expire. That injunction, preventing the release of records, will remain in place for now.

Lawyers for the House committee asked the Supreme Court later on Thursday to expedite its processes and consider the case as soon as mid-January.