Donald Trump files lawsuit to block Jan.6 documents

Bloomberg – Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit to block the release of his tenure documents to the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill, arguing that lawmakers have made too broad a request for presidential records.

Trump filed the complaint in federal court in Washington on Monday. The former president asked a judge to prevent the national archivist from releasing the records to Congress. The national archivist told Trump that the records would be turned over to the committee on November 12, “in the absence of any court order of intervention,” according to the complaint.

“The committee’s requests are unprecedented in their breadth and scope and are not tied to any legitimate legislative purpose,” he said in the complaint.

See more: Investigation panel seeks Trump-era White House records

Among the documents the committee requested are those related to Trump’s comments at the rally that preceded the assault on the Capitol on January 6, as well as any documents related to all public comments Trump made between November 3, Election Day, and January 20, 2020, the day Joe Biden was sworn in as president.

Such a broad request would “destroy the very fabric of our constitutional separation of powers and invade fundamental privileges designed to maintain the autonomy and functioning of the executive branch,” Trump said in the complaint.

The White House had no immediate comment on the lawsuit filed by Trump.

With the assistance of Justin Sink.

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