WASHINGTON -- A panel of judges on Tuesday questioned whether they had the authority to grant former President Donald Trump's demands and stop the White House from allowing the release of documents related to the Jan. 6 insurrection led by Trump's supporters.
But the judges also noted that there may be times when a former president would be justified in trying to stop the incumbent from disclosing records.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments from lawyers for Trump and the House committee seeking the records as part of its investigation into the Capitol riot. Trump’s attorneys want the court to reverse a federal judge’s ruling allowing the National Archives and Records Administration to turn over the records after President Joe Biden waived executive privilege.
Trump supporters broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 after a rally near the White House where he made false claims of election fraud and challenged them to “fight like hell." About 700 people have been federally charged. Nine people died during and after the rioting.
The National Archives has said that the records Trump wants to block include presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts, handwritten notes “concerning the events of January 6” from the files of former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and “a draft Executive Order on the topic of election integrity.”
Compared to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, whose ruling Trump is contesting, the three judges on the appeals...
SOUTH LEBANON — Israeli and Lebanese senior officials on Thursday denied reports that the Israeli army had withdrawn part of its troops from the “buffer zone” in occupied southern Lebanon, followi...