Congress is right to demand all the facts on the siege of the Capitol

It was wishful thinking that Donald Trump and his minions’ attempts to abuse the executive authority of the office of the president would end at the conclusion of his terrible term.

Nine months later, as he continues to daily spout the poisonous lie that Democrats stole the 2020 election, Trump is ludicrously invoking executive privilege to block the release of documents related to his and high-level White House officials’ conduct before and on Jan. 6, the day that a band of insurgents he whipped up invaded the chambers of Congress and attempted to subvert the counting of electoral votes to formalize Joe Biden’s victory.

Having failed to directly intimidate the Biden administration from his perch in Florida, Trump has now filed suit to make the same asinine argument in federal court. In the meantime, his execrable ally Steve Bannon, who by Jan. 6 had not had a formal White House role for over three years, is similarly citing executive privilege as a reason to defy a subpoena by the special House committee investigating the attack.

The committee putting Bannon in criminal contempt is the proper response. This should be a warning to anyone else who thumbs his nose at or raises his middle finger to, as the case may be, a duly authorized legislative committee investigating an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power.

Trump’s contention appears to be that the authorities of a former president somehow exceed those of the current president, who has made the determination that the records should be released. While it is true that the scope of the request is extensive, the events of Jan. 6 were of such a magnitude, and so intertwined with Trump allies and officials, that having the committee reconstruct them with as much material as possible is not only appropriate but vital to our democracy.

Evasive maneuvers might delay the process, but the truth will eventually out. Trump and his cronies will have to answer for what they’ve done.