Supreme Court rejects Donald Trump bid to block Capitol attack document release

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a bid by former president Donald Trump to block the release to a congressional committee of documents related to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Trump, citing executive privilege, had sought to prevent the documents held by the National Archives from being given to the committee investigating the assault on Congress by Trump supporters.

Trump, who has been accused of fomenting the assault on the Capitol, had asked the nation’s highest court to stay a ruling this month by a federal appeals court which rejected his attempt to keep the documents and records secret.

But the Supreme Court, in an 8-1 vote, refused to issue a stay and upheld the appeals court ruling.

Justice Clarence Thomas, a conservative, was the only justice in favor of issuing a stay.

Trump had sought to exercise his privilege as a former president to keep under wraps White House records and communications that might relate to the attack.