The federal judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the emergency request filed late Monday night by Donald Trump aimed to prevent the National Archives from sending sensitive records to Jan. 6 committee investigators by Friday, contending the request itself is premature and legally defective.
She pointed that former President Trump could ask for a stay if and when she issues a ruling that he would want to appeal.
Trump’s legal team filed the unusual motion while awaiting US District Court Judge Chutkan’s formal ruling ahead the National Archives’ deadline on Friday to begin handing over the material Trump claims is protected by executive privilege.
Trump has previously filed a request to prevent Congress from reviewing his White House’s records about his attempt to overturn the 2020 election after President Joe Biden declined to assert executive privilege on Trump’s behalf.
Chutkan promised last week to rule quickly on Trump’s initial emergency request but seemed inclined to reject it considering the lack of legal ground for a former president to claim executive privilege over records when the sitting president and Congress disagree.
According to the National Archives, Trump is trying to block at least 750 pages of around 1500 pages requested by the Jan. 6 committee in connection with Trump’s effort to overturn the election.
Those information, including call and visitor logs, are extracted from the senior Trump aides’ – including Patrick Philbin, Mark Meadows and Stephen Miller- files and records.
Trump’s attorney, Jesse Binnall, argued that by asking Chutkan to approve “administrative stay” of her own ruling even before she issued it, Trump would have a chance to appeal the decision before the Archives began delivering the documents to congressional investigators.
He also warned judge Chutkan that he’s ask for an immediate step in by the appeals court if she didn’t rule on Trump’s first request by Wednesday.
Yet, Trump’s request baffled legal experts who claim judges have no power ‘to preemptively block rulings they haven’t issued yet’.
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