Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday asked the US Supreme Court to block the release of White House records sought by the House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 riots at the Capitol, Reuters reported.
Trump's request came two weeks after the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that he had had no basis to challenge President Joe Biden's decision to allow the documents to be handed over. That decision will remain on hold until the Supreme Court acts.
Trump's lawyers said in their court filing that the House Select Committee's request is "exceedingly broad" and an "unprecedented encroachment on executive privilege."
The House Select Committee has asked the National Archives, the US agency housing Trump's White House records, to produce visitor logs, phone records and written communications between his advisers.
The panel has said it needs the records to understand any role Trump may have played in fomenting the violence.
Later on Thursday, it responded to Trump's appeal with a request for an expedited review from the Supreme Court.
In May, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to form a commission to probe the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The bill was approved in a 252-175 vote, with 35 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.
Two days later, however, Senate Republicans blocked the legislation. Senators voted 54-35 on the House-passed bill, falling short of the 10 GOP votes needed to get it over an initial hurdle.
Without any pathway forward in the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would use her power to pursue a select committee in the House that will be controlled by Democrats.
Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court comes days after Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, sued to block the House Committee’s subpoena for his phone records.
The House separately subpoenaed Flynn in early November for him to turn over records he had related to the 2020 election, as well as demanding he testify. A number of top Trump aides were subpoenaed by the committee together with Flynn.