Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court put an end Tuesday to the request of former President Donald Trump to stop the release of White House records requested by the Democratic-led congressional committee investigating the deadly attack last year on Capitol Hill by a mob led by his supporters.

Trump’s appeal was formally rejected by the court following a Jan. 19 order from the federal agency responsible for historical and government records.

On Dec. 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Trump did not have a basis for challenging President Joe Biden’s decision to permit the records to be turned over to the House of Representatives select panel. Trump appealed to Supreme Court

Trump and his aides have been fighting a legal battle against the House Select Committee to prevent access to witnesses and documents. Trump attempted to invoke executive privilege. It protects some White House internal communications confidentially. However, this was rejected by lower courts.

According to the House committee, it needs the records in order to determine if Trump was involved in the violence on January 6, 2021. In an unsuccessful attempt to stop Congress from officially certifying Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, his supporters stormed Capitol.

The National Archives was requested by the committee to provide visitor logs, telephone records, and written communications between advisers.

Biden took office just two weeks following the riot and previously decided that executive records should not be protected by executive privilege.