January 1, Judge seems unconvinced by Trump’s effort to block the release of Jan. 6 docs

On Thursday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan seemed dubious of former President Donald Trump’s arguments for blocking the Biden administration from releasing a trove of documents to the Jan. 6 House Select Committee.

Chutkan’s line of questioning to one of Trump’s attorneys indicated she had misgivings about granting Trump’s motion for an injunction to shield the documents.

“Are you really saying that the president’s notes, talking points, telephone conversations on Jan. 6, for example, have no relation to the matter on which Congress is considering legislation?” Chutkan said. “The January riots happened in the Capitol; that is literally Congress’s house.”

Chutkan told Trump’s attorney, Justin Clark, she was wary of the prospect that a former president could override a sitting president’s waiver of executive privilege.

“How should I weigh a previous president’s assertion of a privilege when the current president has said that there is none?”

However, Chutkan also expressed reservations about the number of documents the select committee requested, some of which go back to April 2020.

“Congress certainly has broad authority to determine the facts before it decides what legislation it may enact but there has to be some limits,” she said.

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Judge appears skeptical of Trump’s effort to shield Jan. 6 docs