Court issues brief suspension of release of Trump files in Jan.6 inquiry | Local News

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court on Thursday issued a short-term injunction preventing the National Archives from turning over to Trump White House Congressional documents related to the Jan.6 riot on Capitol Hill, a day before the committee of the House investigating the attack would be set to receive the first batch.

The decision, made by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, will preserve the status quo for the time being while lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump, the Congress and the Biden administration will submit briefs over the next two weeks and then discuss on November 30. Briefs will examine whether the court should further block any transfer of documents as litigants turn to the merits of the case, raising new questions about the executive privilege powers of a former president.

The Jan.6 committee demanded detailed accounts of Mr. Trump’s travels and meetings on the day of the assault, when Mr. Trump led a “Stop the Steal” rally and his supporters then stormed. the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying President Biden’s victory in the Electoral College.

Mr Trump has claimed executive privilege over the first slice of archival documents from his White House. But Mr Biden declined to echo the claim, instead ordering the National Archives to turn over those documents on Friday if there was no court order to do otherwise.

Last month, Mr. Trump sued the National Archives and Congress in an attempt to block that production. Earlier this week, Federal District Court judge Tanya S. Chutkan dismissed Mr. Trump’s challenge – and also denied a request by Mr. Trump’s attorney that she nonetheless prevent the National Archives to turn over the records while the former president pursued an appeal of his decision.

Mr Trump’s legal team then asked the appeals court for a brief recess, while proposing an expedited schedule for a briefing on whether the court should issue a longer injunction during the appeal. Attorneys for Congress and for Biden’s Justice Department, which represents the National Archives, took no position on the request for a brief recess.

The appeals court gave Mr. Trump more time than his lawyers requested. They had proposed a timetable that would close the briefing next week.