«The Committee\u2019s request amounts to nothing less than a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition openly endorsed by Biden and designed to unconstitutionally investigate President Trump and his administration,» his lawyer claims.<\/b>
\nFormer President Donald Trump asked a federal court late Monday to block the release of White House documents related to the Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The documents in question are being sought by congressional investigators from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. In the lawsuit, Trump\u2019s attorney accuses the committee of deciding to \u201charass\u201d the former president and his aides while characterizing the document requests as \u201cillegal, unfounded, and overbroad.\u201d Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) filed a series of requests for relevant documents in late August with David Ferriero, who runs the National Archives. Thompson, the committee, Ferriero and the National Archives are all named defendants in the lawsuit. \u201cThe Committee\u2019s requests are unprecedented in their breadth and scope and are untethered from any legitimate legislative purpose,\u201d Trump\u2019s lawsuit argues. \u201cThe Committee\u2019s boundless requests included over fifty individual requests for documents and information, and mentioned more than thirty individuals, including those working inside and outside government during the unreasonably overbroad time period covered by the request. Aside from being overly broad and seeking records protected by numerous legal privileges, these requests are also unduly burdensome because of the substantial time required to conduct an adequate review of the voluminous records.\u201d Earlier this month, White House Counsel Dana Remus advised the National Archives that they could comply with the committee\u2019s request in a letter noting that President Joe Biden \u201chas determined than an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States\u201d regarding any of the documents at issue. Trump\u2019s filing lashes out at the current administration and characterizes Biden\u2019s decision to forego executive privilege as \u201ca political ploy to accommodate his partisan allies.\u201d \u201cThe Committee\u2019s request amounts to nothing less than a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition openly endorsed by Biden and designed to unconstitutionally investigate President Trump and his administration,\u201d the lawsuit argues. \u201cOur laws do not permit such an impulsive, egregious action against a former President and his close advisors.\u201d In the filing, Trump\u2019s attorney Jesse Binnall argues that the committee\u2019s request \u201clacks a valid legislative purpose and thus violates the Constitution and separation of powers.\u201d Binnall\u2019s legal analysis relies on the Supreme Court\u2019s Mazars decision, which established that lower courts must take into account separation of powers concerns implicated by congressional subpoenas when information related to the president is implicated. Binnall, notably, was one of Trump\u2019s ever-present attorneys during the avalanche of largely-failed litigation aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 election. Reprising arguments he made in response to previous congressional inquiries, Trump claims that the Jan.6th committee lacks any legislative purpose and is simply trying to act like a law enforcement agency, which other high court precedent also precludes. \u201cThe Committee has utterly failed to come forward with such evidence here to satisfy the standard; there is no specific legislative need for the privileged documents and materials requested, much less a \u2018demonstrably critical\u2019 one,\u201d the lawsuit argues, citing language from another precedential decision. Trump, of course, is no longer president but is arguing for an extension of executive privilege that outlasts the office itself. \u201cThese burdens are not sufficiently diminished by the fact that the President is no longer in office,\u201d the filing states. \u201cThe Supreme Court has \u2018reject[ed] the argument that only an incumbent President may assert\u2019 separation-of-powers claims.\u201d Trump also asserts numerous other privilege claims over the documents sought by the Jan.6th committee, including presidential communications, deliberative process and other privileges. He has not made a \u201cconclusive\u201d assertion of executive privilege over all of the requested records, but he has made a \u201cprotective\u201d one, his lawyer said. The lawsuit, filed in D.C. District Court, seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions barring the committee from \u201ctaking any actions to enforce the requests, from imposing sanctions for noncompliance with the requests, and from inspecting, using, maintaining, or disclosing any information obtained as a result of the requests.\u201d He also seeks similar court orders to stop the National Archives from providing any of the requested information. The Jan.6 Committee did not immediately respond to Law&Crime\u2019s request for comment. Read the full filing below: Have a tip we should know? [email protected]<\/p>\n