A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the National Archives from turning over former President Donald Trump's White House records to the House panel probing the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The National Archives was set to begin transmitting documents to the panel on Friday, barring a court order.

The court made the announcement late Thursday, setting a schedule for briefs and arguments in the case. Oral arguments will be held before the appeals court on Tuesday, Nov. 30.


What You Need To Know

  • A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the National Archives from turning over former President Donald Trump's White House records to the House panel probing the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol

  • The news comes days after a federal judge rejected his request to block the documents from being turned over to the House Select Committee investigating the deadly attack; The documents include White House visitor logs, call logs and handwritten memos from staffers

  • The National Archives was set to begin transmitting documents to the panel on Friday
  • The arguments will be heard by a panel of three judges, each appointed by Trump's immediate predecessor and successor: Robert Wilkins and Patricia Millett, Obama appointees, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden pick

In the emergency appeal, attorneys for Trump wrote that the former president would "suffer irreparable harm through the effective denial of a constitutional and statutory right to be fully heard on a serious disagreement between the former and incumbent President."

The arguments will be heard by a panel of three judges, each appointed by Trump's immediate predecessor and successor: Robert Wilkins and Patricia Millett were nominated by former President Barack Obama; Ketanji Brown Jackson was recently added to the court by President Joe Biden to replace Merrick Garland, who is now U.S. Attorney General.

The news comes days after a federal judge rejected his request to block the documents — which include White House visitor logs, call logs and handwritten memos from staffers — from being turned over to the House Select Committee investigating the deadly attack.

The former president’s attorneys filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asking the court to block the documents while their legal challenge continues.

“In this appeal, the Court will consider novel and important constitutional issues of first impression concerning separation of powers, presidential records, and executive privilege,” Trump’s attorneys wrote. 

“If no administrative injunction issues from this Court, then the records at issue will be produced on November 12, at 6:00 p.m.,” the brief continues. “Put simply, this motion seeks only a brief pause in the production; it will not prejudice the other arguments or requests to be made by the parties in this important appeal.”

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan this week twice rejected attempts from Trump to temporarily block the release of the documents — one, an emergency appeal shortly after midnight on Tuesday, and a formal ruling later that evening.

Chutkan ruled that Congress had a strong public interest in obtaining the records related to the violent riot, during which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's win in November's presidential election. Multiple people died in the insurrection.

“At bottom, this is a dispute between a former and incumbent President,” Judge Chutkan said. “And the Supreme Court has already made clear that in such circumstances, the incumbent’s view is accorded greater weight.”

Trump “does not acknowledge the deference owed” to Biden’s judgment as the current president, Chutkan added, noting examples of past presidents declining to assert executive privilege. 

Judge Chutkan rejected what she said was Trump’s claim that executive privilege "exists in perpetuity," adding: "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.”

A spokesperson for the former president wrote on Twitter shortly after Chutkan’s ruling that they would appeal the decision, adding that the case "was destined to be decided by the Appellate Courts."

Given the magnitude of the high-profile case, it will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court regardless of which side emerges victorious.

The White House on Thursday also notified a lawyer for Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, that Biden would waive any executive privilege that would prevent Meadows from cooperating with the committee, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The committee has subpoenaed Meadows and more than two dozen other people as part of its investigation.

Meadows' attorney, George Terwilliger, issued a statement in response saying that Meadows “remains under the instructions of former President Trump to respect longstanding principles of executive privilege" and added that "it now appears the courts will have to resolve this conflict."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.