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(CNN) -
Former United States President Donald Trump's efforts to block the release of potentially damning White House documents have hit a new hurdle in court, but his promise to appeal virtually guarantees that the final decision will rest with the Supreme Court.
A federal appeals court ruling Thursday set out a possible review by the high court that, pending a promised impeachment from the former president, will decide whether the long-sought documents make it to Congress, the same institution as the pro-Trump rioters. they stormed in a failed attempt to thwart President Joe Biden's certification of election victory earlier this year.
Appeals court rejects Trump's attempt to withhold Jan.6 House committee documents
The trial court's action, along with some push-ups by the commission earlier in the day, when it paraded a number of witnesses to be interviewed, signaled an escalation of the House of Representatives investigation on the same day in It was revealed that Trump could be compelled to testify in a New York state investigation into his eponymous company.
In its 68-page unanimous opinion, the federal court not only paved the way for House investigators to obtain crucial evidence, but offered a surprising explanation as to why it reached that conclusion.
After hearing Trump's argument to keep the material secret, the justices wrote that "there is a sufficient factual basis to infer that former President Trump and his advisers played a materially relevant role" in what they described as "a singular event in history. of this nation. "
Trump's Refusal to Deliver Documents "Intended" for the Supreme Court "
In response to the court's opinion, Trump's spokeswoman, Liz Harrington, did not address the details of the decision, but looked forward to a battle that, she said, "was always destined for the Supreme Court."
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Trump, given his loyalty expectations, surely sees the conservative supermajority of the Supreme Court - including three justices appointed by him - as a more welcoming forum, especially with the publication of his high-stakes presidential documents in the balance.
A decision in his favor would be a reproach not only to the investigators, but also to the current administration, which has rejected the efforts of its predecessor to cover up its records and communications, refusing to enforce the executive privilege that Trump is trying to grant himself. itself.
The House committee has also become increasingly aggressive in its search for statements from people it believes may be related to the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.
House Select Committee advances on Meadows
Commission chair Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, told CNN late Thursday that the process is now underway for a full House vote - expected Tuesday - to keep the former secretary. Trump General Mark Meadows in contempt for his last minute refusal to sit down for questioning.
But even if he is being tough now, Meadows, who infuriated Trump with the publication of a memoir about his time in the service of the former president, could have already provided the commission with damaging information in the form of more than 6,000 documents in relation to the events of the January 6th.
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Included in that stretch, a source told CNN, were messages from Meadows' personal mobile phone and email account that relate to "what Donald Trump was doing and not doing during the riots."
The documents also made it clear, according to the source, that Meadows himself was "exchanging [communications] with a wide range of individuals while the attack was underway."
Meadows, in a move that reflects a famous habit of his former boss, has filed a lawsuit against the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and members of the investigative commission in response to their plans to go ahead with criminal proceedings. for contempt against him.
Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the commission's vice chair, was unimpressed when she responded to the news of the former North Carolina congressman's legal move, telling CNN: "We're looking forward to litigating that," and pointing to the absurdity that underlies Meadows' refusal to answer questions about documents it voluntarily released.
Cheney, one of two Republicans on the commission, cautioned against underestimating the investigation in a series of tweets Thursday afternoon.
The commission, it said, had met with "nearly 300 witnesses" and highlighted "four other key figures" whose appearances had been overshadowed by Meadows' refusal and skepticism in Washington about the commission's ability to overcome significant legal hurdles before that the Republicans, should they win a majority in the House of Representatives next year, summarily dissolve it.
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"The investigation is going into overdrive," Cheney said.
"Don't Be Fooled: President Trump is trying to hide what happened on January 6 and to delay and obstruct. We will not let that happen. The truth will come out."
Targeting Trump on Multiple Fronts
The move on Capitol Hill was accompanied Thursday by the revelation that in Trump's home state of New York, the state's attorney general, Letitia James, is trying to challenge him as part of her office's civil fraud investigation into the Trump organization, according to a source familiar with the matter.
James, whose investigation into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's alleged sexual misconduct led to his resignation, has requested that the former president sit down to meet with prosecutors before January 7.
James is investigating whether Trump's New York-based businesses manipulated the value of his properties.
(He's also working on a parallel criminal investigation alongside Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, focusing on other possible crimes committed by the Trump Organization.)
A spokesman for the Trump Organization offered a typically flowery response to the news, which was first reported by The Washington Post, calling Trump the target of a "political witch hunt."
"New York is being invaded by violence, children are being shot in Times Square, arsonists are setting fire to Christmas decorations and homelessness is through the roof, yet the sole focus of the New York Attorney General is to investigate Trump, all for his own political ambitions as he tries to run for governor, "the spokesman said, around the same time that James announced that he had dropped out of the Democratic primary for gubernatorial and that he would seek reelection in his current position.
Back in Washington, members of the January 6 commission have been cautious in their public statements and in interviews with the media in speculating what their work might contribute.
But any clear determination is still a long way off.
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When asked if she was concerned that the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court could lead to a reversal of Thursday's appellate court ruling, Virginia Representative Elaine Luria, a member of the commission, expressed confidence that the ruling will be carried out. would keep.
"I think what we would probably see from the Supreme Court is that all the court rulings that have led to this point have corroborated that the documents are necessary and that President Trump ... is the former president," Luria told CNN.
"He is not entitled to executive privilege on these documents."
"We are here to cooperate"
As the appeals court prepared to drop its bomb, witnesses were in and out of meetings with the commission on Thursday. Among them was conservative attorney John Eastman, who in the run-up to January 6 promoted a dubious legal theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the constitutional authority to stop or impede the certification process. The suggestion itself was always false, but Trump stuck to it and harshly criticized Pence at the time for his resistance. By the time the mob had stormed the Capitol, protesters outside had deployed a makeshift gallows and chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!"
Eastman appeared in person for his scheduled statement, said a source familiar with the meeting, though it is unclear whether he responded to the commission's questions or asked for Fifth Amendment protections, as he had previously indicated he would, during his sitting.
However, two other people told reporters that they had cooperated.
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Kash Patel, the former chief of staff to then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, met with the commission, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Patel's appearance ended a long tug of war about when he would come to testify. Former senior adviser to Republican California Rep. Devin Nunes, a Trump loyalist, Patel said in a statement after questioning that he had answered questions posed "to the best of his ability."
It remains to be seen whether and to what extent he disclosed significant information. But CNN has previously reported that the commission told Patel that "there is substantial reason to believe" that it could provide important information on how the Department of Defense, by then dominated by a small and unwieldy group of Trump allies, and the House Blanca prepared for and responded to the attack on Capitol Hill, a matter they believe could be illuminated by more details about Patel's communications with Meadows.
The commission members also met with the organizer of the "Stop the Steal" rally, Ali Alexander, a right-wing activist whose tweets about the elections caused him to be expelled from the platform.
Alexander told reporters that he planned to cooperate and had nothing to do with the violence that followed the rally, which had been authorized on the northeast side of the Capitol compound.
It was there, of course, that Trump infamously whipped up the angry crowd and targeted his vice president.
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"Mike Pence is going to have to get ahead for us, and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country because you have sworn to uphold our Constitution," Trump said.
"Now, it is up to Congress to confront this heinous assault on our democracy. And after this, we are going to walk there, and I will be there with you, we are going to walk there, we are going to walk there."
Trump, in fact, walked nowhere.
He returned home after his comments and his actions from the White House are now under close scrutiny.
Alexander's behavior is of particular interest because he previously claimed - during comments on Periscope in December 2020 - that he had been in contact with a trio of right-wing members of the House, Representatives Paul Gosar of Arizona;
Mo Brooks from Alabama;
and Andy Biggs from Arizona.
Alexander has since denied working with any legislator in connection with the uprising that followed his rally.
"We have provided the commission with thousands of records, hundreds of pages. And unfortunately, I think this commission has gotten too much into our personal lives, too much into my First Amendment," Alexander said Thursday before his questioning.
"But I recognize that they have a legislative obligation to carry it out, so we are here to cooperate."
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