Donald Trump asks Supreme Court to block documents in Capitol Riot probe, sues New York state

Donald Trump has asked America’s highest court to block the release of documents connected to the probe into the Capitol attack.

Former US president Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to block the release of documents to a congressional committee investigating the January 6 assault on the Capitol by his supporters.

Mr Trump asked the nation’s highest court to reverse a ruling this month by a federal appeals court which rejected his attempt to keep the White House records secret.

It comes after Mr Trump filed a lawsuit on Monday, local time, against the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, in an attempt to stop her investigation into his business affairs.

The suit, which was filed in federal court in upstate New York by Mr Trump and his family real estate business, argues that the investigation, which has been ongoing for more than two years, violates Mr. Trump’s constitutional rights.

The lawsuit argues that the inquiry into his practices is politically motivated.

Donald Trump has sued the state of New York over its investigation of his business dealings. Picture: AFP

“Her mission is guided solely by political animus and a desire to harass, intimidate, and retaliate against a private citizen who she views as a political opponent,” the suit states.

The lawsuit comes less than a fortnight after Ms James indicated she would look at questioning Mr Trump under oath next month.

It is expected that Mr Trump’s lawyers will will try to counter the subpoena.

Ms James is conducting a civil investigation into Mr Trump’s dealings, which is occurring simultaneously with a separate criminal investigation conducted by Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

TRUMP AIDE ‘WORTHY’ OF BEING HELD IN CONTEMPT

US President Joe Biden has suggested that ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was “worthy” of being in held in contempt after the US House referred him to the Department of Justice for refusing to testify before the congressional panel looking into the January 6 assault on the Capitol.

The House formally referred Mr Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, to the Department of Justice for criminal contempt of Congress in a 222-208 vote late on Tuesday night local time.

Two Republicans who sit on the select committee, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, voted with all Democrats in favour of the referral.

“I don’t know enough -- just what I’ve seen, I have not spoken to anyone. It seems to me he’s worthy of being held in contempt,” Mr Biden told reporters on Wednesday morning local time.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Picture: AFP

The vote comes after the Washington, DC city government filed a lawsuit against two right-wing extremist groups for their role in the violent attack by supporters of Mr Trump.

The House of Representatives rebuke moves ultraconservative ex-congressman Meadows a step closer to becoming the first White House chief of staff to be prosecuted after leaving the post since H.R. Haldeman in the Watergate scandal nearly 50 years ago.

“We’ve given Mark Meadows every opportunity to co-operate. He’s brought this situation on himself,” the House January 6 select committee said in a statement ahead of the vote on Tuesday (US time), which went roughly along party lines, with two Republicans joining every Democrat to hold Mr Meadows in contempt.

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6. Picture: AFP

National Guard soldiers in Washington before Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th U.S. President. Picture: AFP

A day earlier, the select committee had voted to ask the House to progress charges.

The panel is investigating Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the November 2020 election in the run-up to the Capitol riot – as well as the help he got from Meadows and others.

Meadows, who served in the House for seven years before decamping to Mr Trump’s team in 2020, defied a subpoena requiring him to testify, pointing to an “executive privilege” claim by the Republican former president.

That defence, theoretically only available to sitting presidents seeking to keep sensitive conversations with aides private, has already been shot down by a federal appeals court.

The nine-member select committee is seeking answers about text messages and other communications that Mr Meadows has already acknowledged are not privileged.

Investigators say Mr Meadows has given up any right to refuse testimony in any event, as he is promoting a new memoir that includes detailed accounts of January 6 and his conversations with Mr Trump.

Members of a pro-gun group carry their weapons near the state Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, during the riots. Picture: AFP

He has also spoken numerous times about the attack in prime time appearances on Fox News.

During Monday’s hearing, committee deputy chair Liz Cheney read out frantic messages sent to Mr Meadows during the assault from three Fox News hosts, as well as administration officials, politicians and the president’s son Donald Trump Jr.

Each unsuccessfully begged Mr Meadows to get Mr Trump to call off his supporters and put a stop to the violence.

“We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand,” Trump Jr told Mr Meadows.

The messages made it clear that, contrary to their efforts since January 6 to downplay the assault, members of the former president’s inner circle were appalled by the violence at the time.

“It’s disappointing and unfortunately not surprising that some of the very same individuals who were willing to warn, condemn and express horror over what happened on January 6 in private were totally silent … or, even worse, were spreading lies and conspiracy theories,” US President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, told reporters.

Ms Cheney described the texts as evidence of Mr Trump’s “supreme dereliction of duty” during three hours of inaction during the assault, when thousands of his supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the certification of Mr Biden’s election victory.

Now 62-year-old Meadows will have to wait to hear whether the Justice Department decides prosecutors will take up the House referral.

A protester is injured during the Capitol riots on January 6 in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

The department charged former White House strategist Steve Bannon with criminal contempt of Congress less than a month after the House voted to refer him.

The Meadows decision may prove less straightforward than the case of Mr Bannon, who was not working for the Trump administration at the time of the riot.

Mr Meadows’ lawyer George Terwilliger said in a statement his client’s refusal to co-operate did not amount to noncooperation, but rather an effort to “honour” Mr Trump’s rejected privilege claims.

As Mr Meadows awaits his fate, Washington DC’s lawsuit accuses the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and more than 30 individuals associated with the groups of “conspiring to terrorise the District of Columbia,” the official name of the US capital, said city Attorney-General Karl Racine.

The suit taps into a 19th century law — used originally to take on the violent racist Ku Klux Klan — which focuses on conspiracy to deprive others of their constitutional rights.

The law was “designed to protect our country against violent conspiracies, protect our citizens against violent conspiracies, like the attack that took place on January 6,” said Mr Racine.

“We specifically allege that these vigilantes, insurrectionists, and masters of a lawless mob, conspired against the District of Columbia, its law enforcement officers, and residents by planning, promoting and participating in the violent attack on the United States Capitol,” he said.

During the attack, hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the seat of the US legislature, assaulting police and forcing a halt to the joint House-Senate session meant to confirm that Democrat Joe Biden had won the November 2020 election and would become president.

Originally published as Donald Trump asks Supreme Court to block documents in Capitol Riot probe, sues New York state