Appeals court judges poised to reject Trump’s effort to withhold Jan. 6 documents

…from Politico

[ Editor’s Note: Trump’s Appeals case attorneys had only their billing hours to comfort them today as they attempted their appeal in the DC Circuit. The judges, aware that it was an historic event, were ready withcom their questions to pose to Trump’s lawyers, knowing their decision would be appealed to a higher court, the full DC Circuit or to the Supreme Court.

Trump might want to do the full Appeals circuit first and then go to his heavily Republican appointed Supreme Court as a last resort, and of course drag it out as long as possible. It’s easier for him to grift funding from his base that way, which is his main occupation now.



I have cherry picked some of the best quotes from today’s hearing for you. It is expected that the judges will issue their ruling promptly, as they have had a lot of time to prep for it, and the defense arguments today were in the ‘Hail Mary’ pass category.

‘Is there a circumstance in which the former president ever gets to make this kind of call, and why should he under these circumstances?’ Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, seen as a future Supreme Court nominee for President Biden, asked during the hearing.

Brown added that the legislative history showed that the incumbent president always ruled in a dispute with a former one.

The Trump team attempted to argue the document request was ‘politically motivated’, somehow thinking that would erase the legislative history mentioned above.

The Trump team will not do too well trying to sell the Insurrection as a political event, and that executive privilege was imbued with documents when they were created, a very poor argument and the judges indicated they were not impressed with the argument.

‘It’s simply a question, as I understand it, in this case of the current president has said this is a qualified privilege,’ said Judge Patricia Millett, one of three judges hearing the case.

‘And it’s not a permanent privilege and it can be waived, and I’m making the decision that it is appropriate to share these documents with this committee given the vital public interest of the United States in this investigation.’

At the end of the day the Trump lawyers were trying to salvage anything they could by dragging our process out further:

‘Considering the weight of the issue the former president would need and request some period of time – not a long period of time – to consider and request another administrative stay or injunction pending appeal,’ he said.

All and all, with the Mark Meadows case news of his ‘cooperating’ with the Jan 6 Commission by agreeing to furnish some documents and be deposed under oath, plus today’s hearing, it was a good day for the people and a bad one for the Insurrectionists, whoever and wherever they may be… Jim W. Dean ]

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“…a Republic if you can keep it.”

First published November 30, 2021

Three federal appellate judges appear likely to reject Donald Trump’s effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from obtaining his White House records — a big potential boost for lawmakers hoping to reveal the former president’s actions as a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol.

“We have one president at a time under our constitution,” said Patricia Millett, one of the three judges on the D.C. Circuit panel that heard arguments Tuesday in the high-profile fight. “That incumbent president … has made the judgment and is best positioned, as the Supreme Court has told us, to make that call as to the interests of the executive branch.”

..Millett also complained that Trump himself has not gone on the record to explain why the specific documents at issue are so sensitive that they should be withheld.

“We have no declarations. We have no particularization,” Millett said. “The court itself is supposed to go through and make arguments that the former president hasn’t?”

…The court’s ruling, which could come within days, could determine whether the House Jan. 6 select committee gains access to a massive trove of Trump’s White House records that shed light on his efforts to subvert the 2020 election and stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. As they smashed their way into the capital, they were crying “This is our house, the peoples house”.

    To which we now say, “These are our records, the peoples records”. There is no deterrent if any executive branch can withhold documents. Heading the way of secrecy, and redacting our history, is not what any voter wants. A referendum to release all documents of every president and intell agency , all of it,…would pass near unanimously. The government has seen our underwear drawers, and we want to see theirs.

    • Very good.
      But?
      Somehow, me thinks “what the voter wants” doesn’t rate even a tiny blip on the courts’ radar.
      But?
      I could be wrong.

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