Supreme Court denies Trump bid to review Jan 6 documents
Former president had filed a lawsuit against the select committee’s chairman Rep Bennie Thompson
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Supreme Court has denied a request by former president Donald Trump to review his White House records related to the Capitol insurrection on 6 January of last year.
The court made the announcement on Tuesday in a list of orders on pending cases. Mr Trump had requested a writ of writ of certiorari in a case against Rep Bennie Thompson, who serves as chairman of the House select committee investigating the riot.
“The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied,” the court wrote.
The motion was largely expected despite the fact that Mr Trump had appointed three justices – Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – with conservative Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts rounding out the majority on the court.
The former president had requested a writ of certiorari for the court to review a judgment for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
In December, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a district court decision that denied a request from Mr Trump to enjoin the National Archives and Records Administration from turning over his presidential records.
But at the time, House of Representatives Counsel Doug Letter and his colleagues told the Supreme Court urged the court to deny Mr Trump’s request.
“Although the facts are unprecedented, this case is not a difficult one,” they said at the time.
“Petitioner attempts to overturn the current President’s reasonable determination that the Select Committee is entitled to three tranches of Presidential records responsive to its request. The court of appeals correctly applied this Court’s precedents to reject Petitioner’s challenge under every heightened standard he claimed should apply, relying in part on the fact that Petitioner did not make any particularized objections to production of the specific Presidential records before the court.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments