It’s been known for a while that former president Donald J. Trump has been blocking, via dubious legal methods and with unlikely success, a wide array of documents from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 failed insurrection. After all, he clearly has nothing to hide, and he’s clearly not in big trouble. On Saturday, it was revealed what he doesn’t want anyone seeing.
As per The New York Times, the National Archives issued a court filing that revealed he has sought to block a whopping 770 pages of documents. Of those, 46 pages pertain to files from former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former senior adviser Stephen Miller, and former deputy counsel Patrick Philbin.
Trump, who’s also busy with his shady social media service, also doesn’t want anyone on the committee seeing his White House Daily Diary, which maps out his daily activities — where he went, who he called, who he briefed, etc. — during the fateful day.
But there’s more:
Finally, Mr. Trump asserted executive privilege over 68 additional pages, including a draft proclamation honoring the Capitol Police and two officers who died after the riot, Brian D. Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, as well as related emails; a memo about a potential lawsuit against several states that Joseph R. Biden Jr. won in the November election; an email chain from a state official regarding election-related issues; and talking points on alleged election irregularities in one Michigan county.
That, however, barely scratches the surface. The vast majority of them are about another aspect of the day a large number of Trump supporters broke into the Capitol building in an attempt to stop the certification of the election he lost:
Mr. Trump has also asserted executive privilege over 656 pages that include proposed talking points for Kayleigh McEnany, his former press secretary; a handwritten note concerning Jan. 6; a draft text of a presidential speech for the “Save America” rally that preceded the mob attack; and a draft executive order on the topic of election integrity, the filing states.
Trump’s lawyers have claimed that these documents must be blocked due to executive privilege, which grants a president confidentiality. The only problem: He’s no longer president, because he lost re-election to a candidate American voters vastly preferred over him. Nevertheless, this will set off a legal battle that could delay or even harpoon the committee. But it wouldn’t be the first time Trump has used frivolous lawsuits to keep the wolves at bay.
(Via NYT)