Former President Trump
The former aides and advisers are following the example set by Trump, who is fighting in court to block the panel from obtaining hundreds of pages of internal White House records and arguing that he has the right as a former president to keep them out of Congress’s hands.
Lawyers for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows
Democrats dispute the rationale offered by the Trump camp, accusing them of seeking to delay or stymie the Jan. 6 investigation, but the deadlock is raising the stakes for the committee as it seeks a quick and decisive court victory to secure the internal White House records. A ruling against the lawmakers could have a cascading effect among their would-be witnesses and sources.
The crux of Trump’s suit isn’t about his former aides but about his presidential records, held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which had been set to release a sweeping trove of documents covering every top staffer and even Trump’s family on Jan. 6 following approval from President Biden
But lawyers for those aides say that the former president’s lawsuit will resolve unanswered questions about the weight of Trump’s executive privilege claims now that he’s no longer in office and provide legal clarity for how they should proceed in regards to the committee’s subpoenas.
Evan Corcoran, Bannon’s defense lawyer in the criminal contempt proceedings that the Justice Department brought earlier this month for defying a subpoena, told a federal judge last week that his client’s case should not be rushed, partly because Trump’s lawsuit will guide Bannon’s legal defense.
“It’ll be useful as we’re shaping the arguments in the briefs for our…
Read More: Trump allies leaning on his executive privilege claims