(Photo : Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 21: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) speaks at a news conference on the Protecting Our Democracy Act, at the U.S. Capitol on September 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. The legislation aims to prevent presidential abuses of power, restore checks and balances and strengthen congressional powers against the executive branch.
The House Select Committee that is responsible for investigating the events of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot and the involvement of former United States President Trump is rearing back on the number of documents they are trying to acquire from the Republican businessman.
The situation comes despite the White House counsel considering the documents and records to be of critical importance to the investigation. The decision was made due to concerns of a potentially lengthy court battle with Trump who is continuing to resist giving access to the documents using executive privilege.
Rearing Back on Trump Records
The incident is the latest development in the efforts by the House committee to investigate how deep Trump's connection was to the rally that led to the unprecedented riot. The documents that the committee is seeking to acquire were made during Trump's presidency. The former president tries to use legal leverage to prevent them from pursuing their objective.
On Wednesday, the National archives announced that it planned to turn over more than 700 pages to Congress by the end of November. This is in addition to several dozen new records that it would turn over in mid-November, which would stack short deadlines for Trump, CNN reported.
In order for Trump to prevent the Archives from turning over documents, he would need to issue a court order. Additionally, a court hearing was scheduled for next week in relation to the issue at hand.
One of the panel's nine members, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, said that the committee was in a "hurry" and did not want to get delayed by a potential legal battle with Trump over the 50-or-so pages. The situation marks the first significant acknowledgment of the committee that some of Trump's records may be out of its reach.
It remains unclear whether the committee decided to delay its pursuit of Trump's records based on the White House's requests or on its own analysis. However, Rep. Jamie Raskin, another member of the committee, said the decision was a "process of give and take" with President Joe Biden's administration, Politico reported.
Investigation Into Capitol Riot
The situation also comes after Biden blocked Trump's second attempt to withhold documents that lawmakers were seeking amid the investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In an Oct. 25 letter sent to the National Archives and Records Administration, Dana Remus, Biden's counsel, said that the Democratic president was determined that it was not in the best interests of the United States that an executive privilege be asserted.
On the other hand, a spokesman for Trump, Taylor Budowich, did not immediately respond to comments regarding the situation. Biden blocked Trump's first attempt to withhold an initial tranche of documents earlier this month.
The committee's defense in acquiring the documents was that Congress should understand that they needed to understand the circumstances that led to the Capitol Hill riot. They called the unprecedented incident the "most serious attack on the operations of the federal government since the Civil War."
Biden ordered the archives to provide the requested documents 30 days after Trump has been notified unless a court intervenes in the process, Yahoo News reported.
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