WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday against the U.S. congressional committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, alleging it made an illegal, unfounded and overbroad request for his White House records.
Trump asserted in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that materials sought by the Jan. 6 Select Committee are covered by a legal doctrine known as executive privilege, which protects the confidentiality of some communications between White House officials.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the panel’s request for materials.
Many legal experts have said Trump, as the former president, cannot lawfully use executive privilege to block subpoenas issued by the House committee.
A mob of Trump supporters stormed the seat of Congress on Jan. 6 in a failed bid to prevent lawmakers from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory. More than 600 people now face criminal charges stemming from the event.
Earlier this month, Biden authorized the National Archives, a government agency that holds records from Trump’s time in office, to turn over an initial batch of documents requested by the Select Committee.
In addition to Trump White House records, the Jan. 6 Select Committee has issued subpoenas demanding testimony from Trump advisers, including political strategist Steve Bannon.
Bannon has refused to provide testimony until Trump’s assertion of executive privilege has been resolved by a court or through negotiations with the committee.
The committee said last week it would formally ask the U.S. Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Bannon because of his defiance of the subpoena.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Peter Cooney)
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. congressional committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol told Steve Bannon that it rejected his arguments for failing to cooperate with the probe, as the panel pursues a contempt of Congress charge against the long-time adviser to former President Donald Trump.
Bannon has claimed that the principle of executive privilege shields him from the panel’s demand that he produce documents and appear for a deposition in its probe of the assault on the Capitol.
Trump has claimed that his communications with aides are protected by executive privilege, a legal doctrine that protects the confidentially of some White House communications. But legal experts have said he cannot lawfully use executive privilege because he is now the former president.
In a letter to Bannon’s attorney dated Friday and seen by Reuters on Monday, Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House of Representatives Select Committee, dismissed that claim.
The letter was first reported by The Washington Post.
The Select Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday evening to vote on a report recommending that the House cite Bannon for criminal contempt of Congress and refer him to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for prosecution.
Thompson wrote that Trump has not communicated any such assertion of executive privilege, formally or informally, to the committee.
“Moreover, we believe that any such assertion of privilege -should it be made by the former President – will not prevent the Select Committee from lawfully obtaining the information it seeks,” Thompson wrote.
Bannon’s attorney, Robert Costello, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
The attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters took place as Congress met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory over Trump, delaying that process for several hours as then-Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress, staff and journalists fled. More than 600 people face criminal charges stemming from the event.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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