Followers of Donald Trump besiege US Capitol, January 6, 2021 (Kenny Holston/New York Times)


Donald Trump is seeking to keep documents from the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

The National Archives, in a court filing on Saturday, revealed that Trump is trying to block call logs, drafts of speeches, and notes from White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Trump has already commanded former staff including Meadows, chief strategist Steve Bannon, social media director Dan Scavino, and Pentagon Chief of Staff Kash Patel not to testify or provide material to the committee. The House voted earlier this month to file contempt charges against Bannon over his refusal.

See also Trump Lawyer to Vice President Pence During Capitol Attack: You Caused This

Trump is trying to claim executive privilege even though he is no longer in office. President Joe Biden has declined to assert privilege over the documents.

In the filing, Trump’s attorneys asserted that the House committee was on a “vexatious, illegal fishing expedition…untethered from any legitimate legislative purpose”.

The requested documents include:

*30 pages of “daily presidential diaries, schedules, appointment information showing visitors to the White House, activity logs, call logs and switchboard shift-change checklists showing calls to the President and Vice-president, all specifically for or encompassing 6 January 2021”;

*13 pages of “drafts of speeches, remarks, and correspondence concerning the events of 6 January 2021”;

*“Three handwritten notes concerning the events of 6 January from Meadows’ files”, including a note “listing potential or scheduled briefings and telephone calls concerning the 6 January certification and other election issues” and “a draft executive order on the topic of election integrity”

*White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s binders of talking points and statements “principally relating to allegations of voter fraud, election security and other topics concerning the 2020 election”.