Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Bid To Quash Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to quash subpoenas for White House records relating to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Trump attempted to invoke executive privilege to stop the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack from accessing a trove of documents relating to Trump’s activities on Jan. 6 and those of his top confidants. The Court’s brief decision was unsigned and Justice Clarence Thomas was the only member to note his dissent.

Wednesday’s decision signals a new phase for the committee’s work, which thus far has struggled to penetrate Trump’s inner circle. The papers the panel is seeking will help them reconstruct the ex-president’s activities ahead of Jan. 6, and could leverage some of his former aides into cooperating. Some, like former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have refused the committee’s requests for depositions and documents, citing Trump’s assertions of privilege.

Records the committee is seeking include Trump’s call and visitor logs and any record related to the security of the Capitol or his bid to contest the 2020 election. The National Archives holds papers of past administrations. President Joe Biden is backing the committee’s subpoenas.

Trump’s appeal had support from his top aides, including Meadows and former senior adviser Stephen Miller, whose litigation outfit America First Legal filed an amicus brief urging the Court to "rein in" the Jan. 6 committee.