Former US President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit this Monday (18) in the District Court in Washington, capital of the United States, to keep secret documents of his administration related to the invasion of the Capitol, on January 6 of this year.
The suit was filed against a House of Representatives committee investigating the insurgency and against the National Archives, an agency that maintains historical US government documents.
Trump claims executive privilege, which can be invoked by US presidents to prevent the release of records that could compromise administration and national security. The House committee investigates, among other things, whether the former president or his allies participated before and during the Capitol invasion.
In the process, according to CNN, Trump claims that the House’s request for access to the documents “is unprecedented in its breadth and scope and is devoid of any legitimate legislative purpose.”
This month, Joe Biden’s administration informed the National Archives that it would not claim executive privilege on documents related to the Jan. 6 Trump administration. In the lawsuit filed Monday, Trump’s team called Biden’s refusal “a political ploy to accommodate his partisan allies.” If the former president’s action fails, the National Archives must deliver the documents requested by the House committee in early November.
The Capitol was raided on Jan. 6 by Trump supporters, alleging fraud in Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. The turmoil caused five deaths and left dozens injured; hundreds of people have been arrested and are being prosecuted.
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