The National Archives plans to release Four pages, on Wednesday, despite Trump's Pending Request at the Supreme Court to Block the handover.
In a new Court filing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the National Archives (NARA), which houses Trump’s White House files, planned to Release Four Pages of Records to the House, on Wednesday evening, despite Trump’s Pending Request at the Supreme Court to Block the handover of those and other records.
Although Lower Courts, which Unanimously ruled against Trump’s effort to keep the Pages Secret, agreed to keep Large swaths of his Records Secret while he Appealed to the Supreme Court, those Orders applied to only Three tranches of Records, identified through November.
According to the DOJ, the Fourth Tranche, identified by National Archives and Records Administration Officials in December, was Not Covered by the Lower-Court Orders. However, Trump’s Lawyers did ask the Supreme Court on Dec. 23, to Halt All Transfers of Disputed Records to the House Panel. The high court has yet to act on that Request.
The Acting Head of the DOJ’s Civil Division, Brian Boynton, said that in light of the lack of any Court Order prohibiting the disclosure, NARA planned to provide the Four Contested pages to the Committee unless a Court ordered otherwise by Wednesday. “Absent an intervening court order, the Archivist intends to release records from the fourth tranche to the Committee at 6:00 pm Wednesday,” Boynton said in a Letter filed with the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday evening.
Boynton said the DOJ had alerted Trump’s Lawyers to the possibility that the New Records would be released. Trump's Attorneys informed the DOJ on Tuesday that they believed the planned Handover of the so-called Fourth Tranche would Violate a Stay that the D.C. Circuit imposed in November and appeared to be an End-Run around the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ Stay of the matter Pending Supreme Court review.
“Their strategy can only be interpreted as an attempt to interfere with this Court’s and the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction,” Attorney Jesse Binnall wrote in a Midnight letter to the Court. Binnall said a Notification he received earlier Tuesday from DOJ suggested NARA was going to send Six pages of disputed records to the Jan. 6 Committee, including a Two-page Memo that was substantially the same as one included in the First tranche of Documents still Blocked by the Court’s Administrative stay. It was only after his Team pointed this out, he writes, that DOJ agreed to continue Withholding those two pages.
However, the Justice Department Attorney said the Stay applied only to the Three sets of Records originally at Issue in the Litigation. Boynton noted that President Biden agreed to Delay the Release of the Fourth tranche of Records until Jan. 19 “to ensure the former President had an opportunity to seek judicial relief.”
“Despite that opportunity, the former President did not move for a preliminary injunction in district court with respect to records from the fourth tranche or even amend his complaint to seek relief with respect to any such records,” Boynton said. “Nor did he seek clarification or further relief from this Court. His only Request for relief with respect to records from the fourth tranche was in the Supreme Court.”
But in his Letter, Binnall said that if NARA provides the Records to the Committee, Trump intends to move to hold Archivist David Ferriero in Contempt-of-Court.
“Their letter is nothing more than an attempt to proactively build a defense to prospective contemptuous conduct,” Binnall wrote. “The government has the burden backwards: President Trump is under no obligation to seek another injunction to prevent an act squarely prohibited by an injunction already granted him.”
The Supreme Court has Not indicated whether it will take up Trump’s Lawsuit, allow the Lower Court Rulings to stand or grant Emergency Relief Pending its Decision. House Lawyers urged the Justices to consider the Case at their Jan. 14 Conference, but Friday’s Meeting came and went without any Public Acknowledgment of their Plans.
Trump has moved to keep Hundreds of Pages of his White House Records from Congressional Investigators, claiming that he has the Authority to assert Executive Privilege over them. The Pages include Hundreds culled from the files of his former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and former Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, among other Top Officials. They include Briefing Notes, Speech Drafts, and Call and Visitor Logs, among other Records.
U.S. Law says the Current President has that Authority controlling the Public Archived Records, and had denied Trump from the claim.
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