Trump asks for stay to stop release of records from National Archives

Former President Trump is asking a federal appeals court to stay a Friday deadline for the National Archives to begin handing over records from his administration to the House Jan. 6 select committee.

Trump’s lawyers on Thursday filed an emergency motion with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to temporarily block the release while the former president’s legal challenge plays out.

“If no administrative injunction issues from this Court, then the records at issue will be produced on November 12, at 6:00 p.m,” the filing reads. “Put simply, this motion seeks only a brief pause in the production; it will not prejudice the other arguments or requests to be made by the parties in this important appeal.”

Neither the Justice Department, which is representing the National Archives, nor the select committee’s lawyers are opposing Trump’s request for a temporary stay of the deadline.

If the circuit court grants the request, which could be likely given the lack of opposition from the other parties, the deadline will be delayed briefly while Trump asks for a lengthier stay to take hold during the appeals process.

Trump’s legal team quickly appealed after a district court judge on Tuesday rejected their lawsuit seeking to block the Biden administration from complying with an expansive records request from the select committee. 

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said that Trump’s claims of executive privilege were outweighed by the fact that the sitting president and the legislative branch were in agreement on turning over the documents.

“The legislative and executive branches believe the balance of equities and public interest are well served by the Select Committee’s inquiry,” Chutkan wrote. “The court will not second guess the two branches of government that have historically negotiated their own solutions to congressional requests for presidential documents.”