Former president Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to block the release of his White House papers to a congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack, confronting the court with the fallout from the riot for the first time.
Mr Trump is seeking to override President Joe Biden’s decision to waive executive privilege over the documents.
A federal appeals court said Mr Biden’s stance and Congress’s need for the documents combined to outweigh Mr Trump’s claim of secrecy.
The attack, which grew out of Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the presidential election results, took place as Congress was meeting to certify Mr Biden’s victory.
The former president and his allies have resisted the House select committee’s effort to investigate the attack and determine exactly what role Mr Trump played.
In separate requests, Mr Trump on Thursday asked the justices to take up his appeal and block the release of the records in the meantime. The appeals court had given him 14 days to seek Supreme Court intervention.
The documents will remain secret until the high court acts.
The disputed records, being held by the National Archives, include visitor and call logs, emails, draft speeches and handwritten notes. Mr Trump is objecting to the release of about 800 pages of material, saying they involve protected presidential communications.
“Congress may not rifle through the confidential presidential papers of a former president to meet political objectives or advance a case study,” Mr Trump’s lawyers argued in court papers.
“These sweeping requests are indicative of the committee’s broad investigation of a political foe, divorced from any of Congress’s legislative functions laid out in the constitution.”
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a 3-0 decision the records were vital to the committee’s investigation.
The committee has “demonstrated a sound factual predicate for requesting these presidential documents specifically,” Judge Patricia Millett said for the panel, which consisted of three Democratic appointees.
“There is a direct linkage between the former president and the events of the day.”
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Donald Trump, the president at the time, speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as president in Washington on January 6, 2021. AP -
A mob loyal to Mr Trump tries to break through a police barrier at the Capitol. AP -
The mob waves pro-Trump flags in front of the Capitol building. AP -
Riot police push back a crowd of rioters at the Capitol building. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol building. AFP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump try to open a door of the US Capitol building as they riot in Washington. AP -
US Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the US Capitol. AP -
Police and rioters confront each other in the Rotunda of the Capitol. US Capitol Police via AP -
Smoke fills the hallway outside the Senate chamber of the Capitol. AP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump breach the Capitol in Washington. AP -
Trump supporters, including Doug Jensen, centre, confront US Capitol Police in the hallway outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol. AP -
Newly installed razor wire tops the fence surrounding the US Capitol following the January 6 riot. Reuters -
Security agents and members of Congress barricade the door to the House chamber as the violent mob breaches the Capitol. AP -
Rioter Jacob Chansley holds a sign referencing QAnon as supporters of Mr Trump gather to protest the early results of the 2020 presidential election. Reuters
