| Advertisement |
Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court on Thursday granted former President Donald Trump's request to temporarily block the National Archives from giving his White House records to a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. A three-judge panel granted Trump an administrative injunction and set arguments for the case for Nov. 30.
Advertisement
"The purpose of this administrative injunction is to protect the court's jurisdiction to address appellant's claims of executive privilege and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits," the panel wrote.
Trump, who has repeatedly lost in court trying to keep the records secret by claiming executive privilege, asked the court to "maintain the status quo" until their expedited appeal can be heard.
The National Archives was expected to start turning over the documents Friday, releasing them over the next several weeks.
In the documents, committee members expect to receive call logs, visitor logs, drafts of speeches, memos and even handwritten notes from White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and others. Trump's attorneys have said additional time is needed to properly go over the issues in question.
"In this appeal, the court will consider novel and important constitutional issues of first impression concerning the separation of powers, presidential records, and executive privilege," Trump's attorneys said Thursday, according to CNN.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump's executive privilege argument.
In her decision, Chutkan said Trump was unlikely to succeed on the merits of his claims and would not suffer irreparable harm while "a balance of the equities and public interest" bears against granting his request.
