WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2021) The US House Select Committee investigating the January 6 unrest pledged on Tuesday to continue the probe and fight any attempts of former President Donald Trump to impede its work, including a recent lawsuit.
On Monday, Trump sued the panel for its inquiry, describing it as illegal and claiming that its attempts to obtain White House records, of which the committee has made more than 50 separate requests, have no reasonable connection to the events of January 6. Moreover, if the panel is granted access to the records, such as documents, testimony from potential eyewitnesses and suspects, it would undermine the political system of the United States laying on the separation of powers.
"The Select Committee's authority to seek these records is clear. We'll fight the former President's attempt to obstruct our investigation while we continue to push ahead successfully with our probe on a number of other fronts," Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson and Vice-Chair Liz Cheney said in a joint statement.
Trump's lawsuit is "nothing more than an attempt to delay and obstruct" the probe, the statement read.
The executive privilege in the US is not absolute, the committee said with regard to Trump's stance about damage to the constitutional separation of powers and invasion of privileges designed to maintain autonomy and functioning of the Executive Branch in case the committee gains access to the prepared public remarks and actual public remarks of the former president.
The White House has always complied with congressional probing requests if strong public interest was in place, and the January 6 riot matches this case, the statement read.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration blocked Trump's request to withhold documents about the January 6 riot at the Capitol complex. The decision authorizes the National Archives to hand over documents requested by the US House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th attack, when Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington to prevent certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. As a result of the riot, a protester and a policeman were killed, and three more died from causes unrelated to the violence.
