The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump lost his bid to stop the National Archives and Records Administration from turning over presidential records tied to the House investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. On Nov. 9, 2021, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied Trump’s request for a preliminary injunction and also denied his emergency stay motion as premature. ([law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1%3A2021cv02769/236632/35/))

The ruling let the Archives keep moving toward production of records sought by the House Select Committee. The panel had asked for categories of White House and vice presidential materials covering the January 6 speech, the rally, the march to the Capitol, the violence that followed and the response inside the White House. ([law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1%3A2021cv02769/236632/35/))

Trump argued that some of the records were protected by executive privilege even after he left office. Chutkan was not persuaded that he had shown enough to freeze the transfer while the case moved forward. ([law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1%3A2021cv02769/236632/35/))

The dispute highlighted a familiar post-presidency fight: how much control a former president can claim over official records once he is out of office, and how much deference a court should give to the sitting president’s decision on disclosure. On this record, Trump lost the first round and the Archives stayed on course to produce the materials unless a higher court stepped in. ([law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1%3A2021cv02769/236632/35/))