A federal appeals court on Thursday granted former President Donald Trump’s request to pause the release of key White House records from his presidency to the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, as he appeals a lower court’s decision that he can’t claim executive privilege to keep them secret.
Three judges for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, all of whom were appointed by Democrats, issued the temporary injunction in response to Trump’s last-ditch effort ahead of a Friday deadline to turn over an initial batch of 46 records, including White House call logs, visitor logs, drafts of speeches and three handwritten memos from Trump’s then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Judges Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins, both Obama appointees, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden appointee, sit on the appellate panel considering Trump’s request. Jackson, perhaps most known for her 2019 opinion ruling that former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn must comply with a congressional subpoena concerning Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, is considered a top pick for the Supreme Court should there be an opening during President Joe Biden’s term.
