Former President Donald Trump is trying to keep his tapes of calls, drafts of election-related speeches and handwritten notes from Capitol Riot investigators under wraps, the National Archives revealed in a court file Saturday morning, per Politics.
Trump reportedly wanted to keep the files out of the reach of the Congressional committee investigating the Jan.6 riot on Capitol Hill. “The details of the case are the clearest indication yet of what Trump is trying to hide from congressional investigators seeking information about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and his activities on the day a crowd of supporters Trump’s violent stormed the Capitol and disrupted the transfer of power, “writes Politics.
The documents he hopes to protect would include around 750 of the nearly 1,600 pages requested by investigators. Daily presidential papers, the talking point pages of former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and files on key contributors would all be withheld. The list also includes handwritten notes from former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about January 6, former Vice President Mike Pence’s call logs and White House visitor tapes.
Investigators want these files to better understand “what was going on in the White House just before, during and after the Jan. 6 attack,” Justice Department attorneys said. Trump recently launched a lawsuit to prevent lawmakers from accessing the documents, but it had not yet been stated how many or what types of documents he wanted to protect.
The House, the National Archives and the White House are all broadly united in believing that Trump lacks the authority to assert executive privilege over documents, CNN reports.
