Binnall had accused the select committee members of seeking to “harass” the former president through a “vexatious, illegal fishing expedition.” It also railed against President Joe Biden for rejecting Trump’s privilege claims, accusing him of a “political ploy to accommodate his partisan allies.”
The select committee is tasked with investigating the facts and causes of the Jan. 6 invasion, when hundreds of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol and forced a joint session of Congress to flee their chambers.
As part of its probe, the committee asked the National Archives to share a wide range of White House documents, including any communications about strategies to change Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Chutkan’s opinion said that while the records requests are broad, they do not exceed the committee’s legislative powers.
The House panel has also issued subpoenas for testimony from a growing list of Trump’s close associates. The House last month voted to hold former top Trump advisor Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with the subpoena the committee had issued to him.
On Monday, the committee announced six more subpoenas to Trump’s allies, including former national security advisor Michael Flynn, former campaign advisor Jason Miller and lawyer John Eastman.
A day later, the same panel unveiled 10 more subpoenas to Trump associates including former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, former senior advisor Stephen Miller and former White House personnel director John McEntee.
On Monday night, Binnall filed an emergency request for Chutkan to issue an injunction blocking the National Archives from releasing the disputed records. The archivist, David Ferriero, is set to deliver those documents to the select committee by Friday, Binnall said.
The attorney told Chutkan that if she ultimately decides not to block the committee’s request, Trump will “promptly” file an appeal. In that case, Binnall argued, Chutkan should issue an emergency injunction pending that appeal to give the appellate court time to consider it.
The lawyer, noting the Veterans Day holiday on Thursday, told Chutkan that if she did not issue an order by Wednesday, Trump would “interpret the Court’s silence as a refusal” and move to appeal to the D.C. Circuit.
“If injunctive relief is refused, the National Archives and Records Administration will produce records before judicial review is complete and before President Trump has had the opportunity to be fully and fairly heard,” Binnall wrote in the request for an emergency injunction.
Chutkan denied that request on procedural grounds shortly after midnight on Tuesday, calling it “premature” in the absence of a court order or final judgment.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/09/trump-loses-lawsuit-over-jan-6-capitol-riot-probe-records.html