Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday petitioned the Supreme Court to block the transfer of documents to a parliamentary committee tasked with shedding light on his role in an attack by his supporters on the Capitol Building on January 6.
Trump, who remains influential in the Republican camp and has not ruled out running in the 2024 presidential election, wants to keep secret those documents, which include lists of people who visited and contacted him on the day of the attack.
Lawyers for the Republican billionaire asked the highest court in the United States to overturn a decision made by a federal appeals court in early December that rejected calls to keep White House records secret.
Decision and investigations
The decision of the Court of Appeals issued on the ninth of this month paved the way for the transfer of hundreds of documents to the parliamentary committee investigating the attack on the Capitol building, but it gave 14 days to appeal to the Supreme Court, which is what the former president did.
According to a court document, Trump's defense officials asked the Supreme Court to protect the documents while they consider the case and to expedite the consideration of any future disputes regarding the committee's requests.
Lawyers argue that allowing a congressional committee to obtain the documents would undermine the special privileges afforded to presidents and their ability to have frank conversations with employees and others while in office.
Trump supporters storm the Capitol (European)
Documents and condemnation
The parliamentary committee is seeking to obtain documents - which are currently preserved in the National Archives - to know the role that Trump played in trying to overturn the outcome of the presidential election.
This includes the former president's appearance at a rally on January 6, when he directed his followers to go to the Capitol building where lawmakers were in the process of certifying the election results and incited them to "fight" for their boycott.
The House "Special Committee" was formed to assess the role played by Trump and those around him in the attack carried out by thousands of his supporters on the Capitol building in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from certifying the victory of his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.
The former president, who denies any responsibility for the attack, denounced what he considered a "political maneuver", refusing to cooperate with the investigation committee.
Trump announced this week that he will hold a press conference from his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on the anniversary of the attack, repeating that the November 2020 elections were stolen from him without providing any evidence of his claim.