Judge Laughs As Trump’s Lawyers Falsely Claim FBI Cleared Him of ‘Wrongdoing’ On Jan 6th
Lawyers for Donald Trump filed a legal brief on Tuesday that falsely claims FBI and Senate investigators have cleared his administration of “wrongdoing” in connection with the January 6th attack on the Capitol. But the attorneys support their argument by saying that Trump did nothing wrong by falsely claiming this was the conclusion of two separate investigations.
In a 33-page document filed with the US District Court for the District of Colombia, attorneys for Trump argue the House Select Committee investigating the US Capitol riot should be barred from obtaining White House records, claiming the panel has “already prejudged the facts and circumstances of January 6th.”
While anonymous FBI sources told Reuters in August that their investigation had not uncovered a direct role by Trump and those around him in “organizing the violence” on January 6th, that investigation has not concluded and hasn’t cleared the previous administration of any “wrongdoing.” But it’s still become a major talking point for the right as they try to obfuscate the Committee’s inquiries in an attempt to “move on” from the violent insurrection.
Court hearing set for today at 11am in DC federal court in Donald Trump's executive privilege challenge against the US House Select Jan 6 Committee
Before federal judge Tanya Chutkan
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 4, 2021
In their Tuesday filing, Trump’s attorneys ask that, if the court should not block the committee’s request for records altogether, it should instead subject them to a “full judicial review,” delaying the panel’s investigation and limiting production to those documents the court deems necessary. “Notwithstanding their allegations and insinuations of conspiracy,” the legal brief says of the bipartisan special committee, “investigations by the FBI and the Senate Committee on Government Affairs and Homeland Security rebuff their contentions of wrongdoing by Trump Administration officials.” The attorneys argued that Trump did nothing wrong by falsely claiming two separate investigations came to that conclusion.
"I find NO support for your position" in GSA v. Nixon. When Clark argued about how he was buried under a "huge document dump" Judge Chutkan said, "Im going to ask you to dial down the rhetoric." When Clark argued that the judge should look at each disputed document herself
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) November 4, 2021
Trump’s lawyers presented their argument to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on Thursday, but her response indicated that she wasn’t buying their argument. “What’s your basis for that assertion?” she asked Trump’s lawyers.
“Just a published article,” one of the lawyers said, “from Reuters … quoting the FBI…”
“You cite an article …” Chutkan replied, chuckling in apparent disbelief. “I mean, that’s your only support for that statement?”
As expected, Judge Tanya Chutkan took Trump's lawyers to task in today's hearing regarding Trump's lawsuit trying to stop the release of documents that will very likely incriminate him. As I suspected (and included as the opening of yesterday's #JusticeMatters video) . . .
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) November 4, 2021
In what legal experts have described as a delay tactic, Trump last month sued to prevent congressional investigators from obtaining White House records.
Judge Tanya Chutkan has earned a reputation for seeing the Jan. 6 attack as a serious threat against the United States and has, at times, given harsher sentences to insurrectionists than those recommended by prosecutors.
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) November 4, 2021