A federal appeals court on Thursday granted a short-term delay in the Jan. 6 select committee’s access to Donald Trump’s White House records.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — including President Joe Biden’s first and only appointee to that court, Ketanji Brown Jackson — will instead hear arguments in the matter on Nov. 30.
The delay is a minor setback for the House Jan. 6 committee, which had prevailed in U.S. District Court against Trump’s legal effort to block access to his records altogether. The National Archives, which house Trump’s records, had been preparing to deliver them to the committee on Friday afternoon.
The committee has repeatedly emphasized the urgency of accessing Trump’s records as it explores the former president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election results, including the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol that disrupted the electoral vote count and sent lawmakers fleeing in fear.
Despite claims of urgency, the House did not object to Trump’s request for a temporary injunction while the appeals court considers the broader issues. The Justice Department also took no position on the temporary stay.
The composition of the appeals court panel is likely to hearten House investigators. The order issued on Thursday indicates that, in addition to Jackson, the panel includes Judges Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins, who were appointed by former President Barack Obama to the court.
Despite the slowdown, the case is still moving at breakneck speed through typically slow-moving federal courts. Trump filed suit in mid-October to block the Jan. 6 committee’s access to his records. A District Court judge, Tanya Chutkan, rejected Trump’s effort on Tuesday, dismissing the notion that a former president could overrule the sitting president on matters of executive privilege.
Trump quickly appealed the decision and asked the appeals court to delay the effect of Chutkan’s ruling until fuller arguments could be heard. The appeals court’s decision to set a two-week briefing schedule keeps the case moving on a fast track. Trump is due to file his written brief in the case on Tuesday, with a reply by the National Archives and the House on Nov. 22. Trump will have an additional reply on Nov. 26 before oral arguments the following week.
If Trump loses in the three-judge panel, he has the option to appeal to the full appeals court or the Supreme Court.
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By: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein
Title: Appeals court slows Jan. 6 committee’s effort to access Trump White House records
Sourced From: www.politico.com/news/2021/11/11/appeals-court-jan-6-committee-trump-white-house-records-520952
Published Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2021 16:42:37 EST
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