Assault on the Capitol: setback for Trump, the Supreme Court authorizes an important transfer of documents

It's a setback for Donald Trump, but a step that can be decisive for the investigation.

The Supreme Court cleared the way on Wednesday for the transfer of documents related to the actions of Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 to the parliamentary commission of inquiry, responsible for shedding light on his role in the assault on the Capitol.

Read alsoUnited States: one year after the assault on the Capitol, where is the investigation?

The highest court in the United States rejected, by a majority of eight judges out of nine, the former president's attempt to maintain the confidentiality of the White House archives in a short judgment that does not explain his motivations.

These hundreds of pages of documents include, among other things, the lists of people who visited him or called him on January 6, 2021, as well as notes taken during these exchanges.

Race against time before the

midterms

The Supreme Court's decision represents a considerable victory for the "special committee" of the House of Representatives, which is engaged in a veritable judicial guerrilla war with the former president and his relatives.

The two elected to head this commission, Democrat Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, hailed in a press release a “victory for the rule of law and for American democracy”.

They said they had already begun to receive certain documents "that the former president had hoped to keep hidden".

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Invasion of the Capitol: the hours that shook the United States

The members of the January 6 commission, mostly Democrats, seek to determine the role of the Republican billionaire in the attack of thousands of his supporters on the seat of Congress, when the elected officials certified the victory of his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden , presidential. They are racing against time as they desperately want to release their findings before the midterm legislative elections, in less than a year, when Republicans could regain control of the House and bury their work.

Lawyers for the former president, advisers, ex-chief of staff, spokespersons…: for months, they have been increasing the subpoenas to appear in the entourage of Donald Trump, without success so far.

Among the latest summoned is the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, a loyal supporter of Donald Trump who had supported him in his post-election crusade.

Progress in another investigation

For his part, Donald Trump, who remains central in his camp and does not rule out running for president in 2024, denounces a "political game" and tries to block the efforts of the commission.

To do this, he notably invoked a prerogative of the executive power allowing his communications to be kept confidential.

For him, it even applies to former presidents.

But the federal courts rejected these requests, pointing out that the current executive branch had waived the use of this prerogative and authorized the transmission of its archives to Congress.

"Presidents are not kings and the plaintiff is not a president", had in particular judged the magistrate Tanya Chutkan in the decision of first instance, then confirmed on appeal.

The Supreme Court, which nevertheless has three out of nine magistrates appointed by Donald Trump, has just validated these judgments.

Only the conservative judge Clarence Thomas let it be known that he would have given him satisfaction.

Read alsoHow Donald Trump is preparing the ground for 2024

In a separate court filing, the former real estate mogul also saw darkening skies.

This Tuesday evening, the New York State Attorney General announced that she had “uncovered evidence” of “fraudulent” tax practices within the Trump Organization.

In a document of more than a hundred pages, Letitia James accuses him, as well as two of his children, of having misvalued some of their assets to derive an "economic advantage".

According to her, he would have underestimated goods with the taxman to pay less taxes, and would have overvalued them with banks to obtain loans.