After a federal appeals court ruled in their favor this week in a high-profile case related to the obtaining of records from the administration of former President Trump, House riot investigation committee leaders Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — who serve as chair and vice chair, respectively — insisted that the work continues. The appeals court shot down arguments from Trump, who brought the case and argued that certain records should be kept from the committee’s possession based on concerns including executive privilege. Biden — who, as the current president, is understood by certain observers to have the final word on executive privilege — has declined to invoke the protection.
We applaud the Appellate Court’s decisive ruling, which respects the Select Committee’s interest in obtaining White House records and the President’s judgment in allowing those records to be produced.
Our work moves ahead swiftly. We will get to the truth.
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 10, 2021
Thompson and Cheney commented as follows:
‘We applaud the Court’s decisive ruling, which respects the Select Committee’s interest in obtaining White House records and the President’s judgment in allowing those records to be produced. Our work moves ahead swiftly. We will get to the truth.’
We applaud the Appellate Court’s decisive ruling, which respects the Select Committee’s interest in obtaining White House records and the President’s judgment in allowing those records to be produced.
Our work moves ahead swiftly. We will get to the truth.
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 10, 2021
As the appeals court put it, responding to claims from Trump about the supposed lack of a legitimate legislative purpose behind the committee’s work: “The very essence of the Article I power is legislating, and so there would seem to be few, if any, more imperative interests squarely within Congress’s wheelhouse than ensuring the safe and uninterrupted conduct of its constitutionally assigned business.” That sort of official business is exactly what was upended when a mob of the then-president’s supporters rampaged through the Capitol complex in January. In summation, the court concluded that “essential to the rule of law is the principle that a former President must meet the same legal standards for obtaining preliminary injunctive relief as everyone else. And former President Trump has failed that task.”
Trump's Supreme Court justices are not going to protect our right to abortion — so we must.
As one of the one in four women across America who have had an abortion, I am calling on the Senate to end the filibuster and pass the Women's Health Protection Act. This can't wait.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 10, 2021
For now, though, the ruling has been delayed from going into effect in order to provide an opportunity for Trump to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. While it’s true that the court currently features three members — out of nine total — who were appointed by Trump himself, these individuals have moved against Trump in the past. For instance, the court — like every other one that dealt with such cases — never threw its weight behind claims that the outcome of the 2020 presidential election was the result of fraud and courts should overturn it. The court also repeatedly ruled against attempts by Trump to keep his tax records away from New York investigators who’ve been conducting a criminal probe into his business. That investigation has now culminated in tax evasion charges for the company and a top executive there, and the underlying probe remains ongoing.
New: Trump rally organizer Ali Alexander just finished his deposition with the Jan. 6 committee, per pool. Alexander was served with a civil suit as he left
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 9, 2021
