Lawyers for former President Donald Trump argued in federal court Thursday that hundreds of documents sought by the House committee investigating the January 6th riot at the Capitol should be withheld by the U.S. National Archives. But their case didn’t seem to pass muster with Judge Tanya Chutkan.
“Are you really saying that the President’s notes, talking points, telephone conversations, on January 6, have no relation to the matter on which Congress is considering legislation?” Chutkan asked. “The January 6 riot happened in the Capitol. That is literally Congress’ house.”
“The former President has rights,” Justin Clark, an attorney for Trump, stated.
“We’re not talking about your client’s banking records from before he became president,” the judge said to Clark. “We’re talking about documents that are quintessentially about government business.”
Chutkan also accused Trump’s team of trying to unnecessarily delay the investigation by requesting a review of each document before it is handed over to the House committee. “You’re talking years,” she said.
Reuters adds:
Chutkan also said she was reluctant to second-guess any document demand by members of Congress.
“Is it really my role to require Congress to specify the legislation they are seeking?” Chutkan asked.
However, Chuktan signaled that investigators requested documents that are seemingly unrelated to January 6th.
CNN reports:
Chutkan acknowledged that “some of these requests seem very narrowly tailored.” But she said on a few occasions during the hearing that other parts of the committee’s request covered a wide scope of records, saying it was “alarmingly broad,” “very broad,” and “really broad.”
Congress has broad authority to demand documents, but “there has to be some limit,” she said.
She said a request for Trump’s polling data from summer 2020 was “tangential” to the January 6 investigation. She also zeroed in on a request for documents from April 2020, and asked House Democrats’ top lawyer Doug Letter to explain how those materials were tied to the insurrection.
The U.S. National Archives has received permission from the Biden administration to begin handing over the requested documents next week. Chuktan – or an appeals court – have the power to stop that transfer.