Donald Trump Files Lawsuit Against Adam Schiff’s Committee To Block Records
Former President Trump filed a lawsuit against Adam Schiff’s Select Committee looking into Jan 6. Trump is claiming executive privilege over documents Schiff’s committee wants and is suing to block their release.
“The Committee’s request amounts to nothing less than a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition openly endorsed by Biden and designed to unconstitutionally investigate President Trump and his administration,” the lawsuit says. “Our laws do not permit such an impulsive, egregious action against a former President and his close advisors.”
The lawsuit says: “It would make no sense for the Committee’s charter to encompass such an investigation. As has been widely reported, the FBI has not found evidence supporting the Democrats’ contention that the events at the Capitol on January 6 were part of some organized plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
“Likewise, as has been reported, the FBI has “so far found no evidence” that former President Donald Trump or “people directly around him were involved in organizing the violence.”
“If anything, the FBI has found that a small group of individuals planned to breach the Capitol prior to January 6. A subsequent joint report by the Senate Homeland Security and Rules Committees blamed “intelligence and security failures,” not the President or any of his advisers, for what happened at the Capitol that day.
“And Congress has already conducted a thorough investigation of this entire matter during its failed impeachment effort.
“Notably, the Biden Administration’s waiver of executive privilege is a myopic, political maneuver designed to maintain the support of its political rivals and is not based on any discernable legal principle.
“In fact, the Biden administration’s unprincipled political accommodation is directly contrary to long-standing Supreme Court precedent that “information subject to executive privilege deserves ‘the greatest protection consistent with the fair administration of justice.’” . Nevertheless, this waiver is irrelevant insofar as the Committee’s request serves no valid legislative purpose and is thus unconstitutional.
“As it relates to any materials being sought in situations like this, where fundamental privileges and constitutional issues are at stake and where a committee has declined to grant sufficient time to conduct a full review, there is a longstanding bipartisan tradition of protective assertions of executive privilege designed to ensure the ability to make a final assertion, if necessary, over some or all of the requested material.
“In the event this Court does not declare the requests invalid and unconstitutional, this protective assertion will ensure President Trump’s ability to decide whether to make any further conclusive assertions of privilege following a full review of all of the requested materials.
“In sum, Plaintiff files this action requesting that the Court invalidate the Committee’s requests and enjoin the Archivist from turning over the records in question. At a bare minimum, the Court should enjoin the Archivist from producing any potentially privileged records until President Trump is able to conduct a full privilege review of all of the requested materials.
“Plaintiff incorporates all prior allegations. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff asks this Court to enter judgment in his favor and to provide the following relief:
- A declaratory judgment that the Committee’s requests are invalid and unenforceable under the Constitution and laws of the United States;
- In the alternative, a declaration that the Presidential Records Act is an unconstitutional violation of separation of powers and is void ab initio;
- A preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining the Committee including Chairman Thompson from taking any actions to enforce the requests, from imposing sanctions for noncompliance with the requests, and from inspecting, using, maintaining, or disclosing any information obtained as a result of the requests;
- A preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining the Archivist and NARA from producing the requested information;
- In the alternative to the above, a preliminary injunction enjoining the Archivist and NARA from producing the requested information, and enjoining the Committee and Chairman Thompson from taking any actions to enforce the requests, until President Trump has had sufficient opportunity to conduct a comprehensive review of all records the Archivist intends to produce before any presidential record is produced to the Committee;
- Plaintiff’s reasonable costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, as permitted by law; and
- Such other and further relief as the Court may deem just proper.
BREAKING: Former President Trump files a double-barreled lawsuit seeking to block any handover of documents the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has sought from the National Archives. https://t.co/1ApWoZwHog
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 18, 2021