Desperate Trump Asks Appeals Court For Stay As His Time Is Running Out To Hide 1/6 Docs

Trump’s lawyers asked a federal appeals court for a temporary stay so that he could appeal to turn over documents to the 1/6 Committee.

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Trump Is Appealing Based On Imaginary Executive Privilege

Trump’s lawyers are still claiming imaginary executive privilege:

President Trump is also likely to succeed in his appeal because the district court incorrectly held that President Biden had unfettered discretion to allow Congress to invade President Trump’s executive privilege. Novel questions of congressional access to presidential records and executive privilege are at the heart of this case. These are serious issues, which the Supreme Court referred to as “fundamental to the ‘operation of Government.'” Mazars, 140 S. Ct. at 2032 (quoting United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 708 (1974)). 

The disagreement between an incumbent President and his predecessor from a rival political party highlights the importance of executive privilege and the ability of Presidents and their advisers to reliably make and receive full and frank USCA Case #21-5254 Document #1921966 Filed: 11/11/2021 Page 8 of 15 (Page 8 of Total) advice, without concern that communications will be publicly released to meet a political objective. This political clash also implicates the Supreme Court’s recognition of every President’s right to assert executive privilege.

If Trump Doesn’t Get A Stay, The 1/6 Committee Gets The Docs

It is easy to see Trump getting a temporary stay, based on his right to appeal, but if the appeals court doesn’t intervene today, the 1/6 Committee will have call logs and speech drafts in their hands tomorrow.

Judging from the amount of detail in the subpoenas that they are issuing, the 1/6 Committee appears to have a pretty good idea of what was going on in the White House on and before the attack on the Capitol.

If the Committee gets the documents, it will send a message to Trump and his allies, who are trying to stall and obstruct the investigation, that the courts are not going to allow Trump to run out the clock.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association