Appeals court to weigh Trump arguments to withhold records

US Capitol on Lockdown as Trump Supporters Storm the Building During 'Coup Attempt'. Thousands of Donald Trump's supporters rioted outside of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday after being told to “peacefully” march by the president. Supporters breached the doors of the Capitol, forcing an evacuation of Congress during Joe Biden's presidential certification process. Members of Congress were told to grab the gas masks under their chairs before evacuating the building. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a 6 p.m. curfew in response to the violence. Trump addressed the protestors on Twitter, telling them to “stay peaceful.”. Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!, Donald Trump, via Twitter

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers will try to persuade a federal appeals court to stop Congress from receiving call logs, drafts of speeches and other documents related to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol led by his supporters.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear arguments Tuesday from lawyers for Trump and the House committee seeking the records as part of its investigation into the riot.

Trump's attorneys want the court to reverse a federal judge's ruling allowing the National Archives and Records Administration to turn over the records after President Joe Biden waived executive privilege. Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump's claims that he could exert executive privilege overriding Biden, noting in part, "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not president." The appeals court issued an administrative stay after Chutkan's ruling to review the case.

Democratic presidents nominated all three judges who will hear arguments Tuesday. Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins were nominated by President Barack Obama, and Ketanji Brown Jackson is a Biden appointee.

Given the stakes of the case, either side is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court.

In their appeal to the circuit court, Trump’s lawyers said they agreed with Chutkan that presidents were not kings. “True, but in that same vein, Congress is not Parliament — a legislative body with supreme and unchecked constitutional power over the operations of government,” they wrote.

Trump has argued that records of his deliberations on Jan. 6 must be withheld to protect executive privilege for future presidents and that the Democrat-led House is primarily driven by politics. The House committee’s lawyers rejected those arguments and called Trump’s attempts to assert executive privilege “unprecedented and deeply flawed.”

“It is difficult to imagine a more critical subject for Congressional investigation, and Mr. Trump’s arguments cannot overcome Congress’s pressing need,” the committee’s lawyers said.