During a new appearance on MSNBC, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — who serves as a member of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot — rhetorically shredded a lawsuit recently filed by former President Donald Trump in hopes of blocking the riot investigation committee from obtaining certain records from his administration. Trump’s lawsuit self-confidently — but wrongly, of course — insisted that the “Committee’s request [for documents] amounts to nothing less than a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition openly endorsed by Biden and designed to unconstitutionally investigate President Trump and his administration.” Trump is trying to keep hundreds of pages of specific records from the committee.
Some of the records that Trump is trying to keep hidden definitely raise suspicions. A recent court filing from an official at the National Archives and Records Administration revealed that the records at issue include items like handwritten notes from then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about the events of January 6. Meadows is among those who’ve been subpoenaed by the riot investigation committee, and a recent report suggested that he could be among the next to face criminal contempt proceedings. CNN recently said that members of the riot investigation committee were “losing patience with the pace of talks with” Meadows regarding the testimony and document turnovers that have been demanded.
Meanwhile, Schiff commented as follows on MSNBC, discussing the push for the records from the Trump White House:
‘All of those records are pertinent to our investigation. All of those records are pertinent to our being able to legislate to protect the country going forward. And look, if the Trump lawyers don’t know it already, they should — their claims have no merit. The sitting president has the authority to assert privilege or not assert it. Joe Biden is not asserting privilege here. He recognizes that the national security interest is paramount here, that Congress be able to do its work… Even if Joe Biden asserted a privilege here, which he is not doing, it would be hard to overcome Congress’s need to know when we’re dealing with a violent attack on the Congress, an attempted insurrection.’
Schiff also said that he believes that there is, in fact, a “need” for expedient consideration of riot investigation-related matters in the courts. As Schiff put it, there’s “an urgency to being able to protect the country from another violent attack.” Trump and numerous prominent Republicans have continued to promote the falsehood that the election was somehow rigged for Biden, which is the exact lie that inspired the original assault on the Capitol in January. Watch below:
