The dominoes have fallen for former President Trump and his efforts to stonewall the House Jan. 6 Select Committee.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday officially rejected the former president’s demand to block the release of White House records to the Committee. The ruling came in a brief unsigned order issued without comment.
The Supreme Court’s ruling was largely expected, following its order last month rejecting Trump’s emergency request to block the transfer of some White House records from the National Archives to the Committee. The Supreme Court backed a lower court ruling in December that concluded the former president “provided no basis” for the courts to override President Biden, who had recently rejected Trump’s claims of executive privilege over records sought by the Committee.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta shot down Trump’s claim of “absolute immunity” from multiple lawsuits that have been brought by House Democrats and police officers accusing him of inciting last year’s insurrection.
The Biden administration also stepped in last week and once again rejected Trump’s attempts to shield certain White House records from the Committee. In a letter to National Archivist David Ferriero, White House counsel Dana Remus said Biden denied his predecessor’s executive privilege claim over White House visitor logs, which the Committee is seeking in its investigation into last year’s Capitol attack.
