AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
- Donald Trump asked a US judge to block the January 6 Committee from obtaining White House records.
- Judge Tanya S. Chutkan denied the request and said the documents are of interest to the public.
- The National Archives and Records Administration will give investigators the documents on Friday.
US District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan denied Donald Trump's emergency request to block the January 6 Committee from obtaining White House records, including his daily presidential diaries, activity logs, and call logs related to that day.
On Tuesday morning, Chutkan denied an unusual emergency motion filed on Monday night by Trump's attorneys asking her to stay her ruling, despite the fact that she had not made a decision, until he could appeal the case. Chutkan issued her ruling later in the day and denied Trump's motion to block the records.
"Plaintiff is unlikely to succeed on the merits of his claims or suffer irreparable harm, and because a balance of the equities and public interest bear against granting his requested relief," Chutkan wrote in her decision.
-Mike Sacks (@MikeSacksEsq) November 10, 2021
The Biden administration declined a request from Trump's legal team in October asking Biden to assert executive privilege over the files. Still, Trump argued to the court that future presidents would suffer "sustainable injury and irreparable harm" if the documents are disclosed, chilling presidential aides' willingness to give advice.
Chutkan rebuffed Trump's argument, citing the actions of past presidents waiving executive privilege when dealing with "matters of grave public importance," such as Watergate, Iran-Contra, and 9/11. She also said that the incumbent president - Joe Biden - is in the best position to evaluate the effects that the documents' disclosure would have on the executive branch, according to her decision.
In light of Chutkan's decision, the National Archives and Records Administration will give investigators over 1,600 pages of documents that it requested on Friday. The files are expected to include files of various former White House officials, pages from the binders of former Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and a draft text of Trump's speech for the Save America March on January 6.