[News] Trump sues to withhold records requested by Jan. 6 commission

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Former President Donald Trump is suing to prevent the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol from receiving records from its investigation into the events of that day as well as Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump and his lawyers argue that the requests for the records are too general and have no legislative purpose, and criticize President Biden for not asserting executive privilege to prevent the delivery of those documents.

"The committee's request is nothing less than a malicious poaching expedition that Biden has publicly endorsed and is designed to unconstitutionally investigate President Trump and his administration," the lawsuit said. "Our laws do not allow such reckless and scandalous action against a former president and his close advisors." The January 6 Commission presents legal arguments against Bannon's challenge to subpoena Bannon in a private letter to his attorney The lawsuit was filed against the Commission and the National Archives in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The committee has indicated in recent days that it plans to be assertive in its efforts to secure information from Trump and his top aides. The commission is expected, Tuesday evening, to approve a criminal complaint against Stephen K. Bannon, a former Trump aide, who refused to comply with the committee's subpoena. Trump's office released a statement saying that his legal arguments rest on three "pillars": that the committee's request does not serve any useful legislative purpose, such as informing the writing of a bill; it undermines Trump's executive privilege rights; and that the Committee did not give the former Chair's team sufficient time to review records requests. In flowery terms, the 26-page complaint alleges that the committee seeks to "harass President Trump and senior members of his administration (among others) by sending an illegal and baseless request for records to the archivist."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-january-6-committee-lawsuit/2021/10/18/5947ecfe-304b-11ec-9241-aad8e48f01ff_story.html