In a rebuff to former President Donald  Trump the Supreme Court is allowing the release of presidential documents sought by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.


The justices on Wednesday rejected a bid by Trump to withhold the documents from the committee until the issue is finally resolved by the courts. Trump's lawyers had hoped to prolong the court fight and keep the documents on hold.

Following the high court's action, there is no legal impediment to turning over the documents, which are held by the National Archives and Records Administration. They include presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts and handwritten notes dealing with Jan. 6 from the files of former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

The committee already has begun to receive records Trump wanted kept secret, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep.Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the committee chairman and vice chairwoman, respectively.

The Supreme Court's action tonight is a victory for the rule of law and American democracy, "Thompson and Cheney said in a statement pledging to ``uncover all the facts about the violence of January 6th and its causes."

White House spokesman Mike Gwin called the ruling "an important step forward" for the investigation, "and in ensuring accountability for an unprecedented assault on our democracy and the rule of law.''

The House committee agreed to defer its attempt to get some documents, at the request of the Biden White House. The current administration was concerned that releasing all of the Trump administration documents sought by the committee could compromise national security and executive privilege.

Alone among the justices, Clarence Thomas said he would have granted Trump's request to keep the documents on hold.

Trump's attorneys had asked the high court to reverse rulings by the federal appeals court in Washington and block the release of the records even after President Joe Biden waived executive privilege over them.