Trump v. Thompson

• Citation: 20 F.4th 10
• Decision Date: 09 December 2021
• Docket Number: No. 21-5254,21-5254
• Parties: Donald J. TRUMP, in his capacity as the 45th President of the United States, Appellant v. Bennie G. THOMPSON, in his official capacity as Chairman of the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, et al., Appellees
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

20 F.4th 10

Donald J. TRUMP, in his capacity as the 45th President of the United States, Appellant

v.Bennie G. THOMPSON, in his official capacity as Chairman of the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, et al., Appellees

No. 21-5254

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued November 30, 2021

Decided December 9, 2021

Jesse R. Binnall and Justin R. Clark argued the cause and filed the briefs for appellant.

Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, argued the cause for appellees Bennie Thompson and the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. With him on the brief were Todd B. Tatelman, Principal Deputy General Counsel, Stacie M. Fahsel, Associate General Counsel, Eric R. Columbus, Special Litigation Counsel, and Annie L. Owens, Mary B. McCord, and Joseph W. Mead, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Georgetown University Law Center.

Brian M. Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, argued the cause for appellee National Archives and Records Administration. With him on the brief were Michael S. Raab and Gerard Sinzdak, Attorneys. Mark R. Freeman, Sarah E. Harrington, and Elizabeth J. Shapiro, Attorneys, entered appearances.

Elizabeth B. Wydra and Brianne J. Gorod were on the brief for amici curiae Former Department of Justice Officials in support of appellees.

Norman L. Eisen was on the brief for amici curiae States United Democracy Center and Former Federal, State, and Local Officials in support of appellees.

Nikhel S. Sus and Conor M. Shaw were on the brief for amici curiae Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Former White House Attorneys in support of appellees.

John A. Freedman, Samuel F. Callahan, and Cameron Kistler were on the brief for amici curiae Former Members of Congress in support of appellees.

Kelly B. McClanahan was on the brief for amici curiae Government Accountability Project, et al. in support of appellees.

Before: Millett, Wilkins, and Jackson, Circuit Judges.

Millett, Circuit Judge:

On January 6, 2021, a mob professing support for then-President Trump violently attacked the United States Capitol in an effort to prevent a Joint Session of Congress from certifying the electoral college votes designating Joseph R. Biden the 46th President of the United States. The rampage left multiple people dead, injured more than 140 people, and inflicted millions of dollars in damage to the Capitol.¹

Then-Vice President Pence, Senators, and Representatives were all forced to halt their constitutional duties and flee the House and Senate chambers for safety.

The House of Representatives subsequently established the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, and charged it with investigating and reporting on the "facts, circumstances, and causes relating to" the January 6th attack on the Capitol, and its "interference with the peaceful transfer of power[.]" H.R. Res. 503, 117th Cong. § 3(1) (2021). The House Resolution also tasked the January 6th Committee with, among other things, making "legislative recommendations" and proposing "changes in law, policy, procedures, rules, or regulations" both to prevent future acts of such violence and to "improve the security posture of the United States Capitol Complex[.]" Id. § 4(b)(1), (c)(2).

As relevant here, the January 6th Committee sent a request to the Archivist of the United States under the Presidential Records Act, 44 U.S.C. § 2205(2)(C), seeking the expeditious disclosure of presidential records pertaining to the events of January 6th, the former President's claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and other related documents.

This preliminary injunction appeal involves only a subset of those requested documents over which former President Trump has claimed executive privilege, but for which President Biden has expressly determined that asserting a claim of executive privilege to withhold the documents from the January 6th Committee is not warranted. More specifically, applying regulations adopted by the Trump Administration, President Biden concluded that a claim of executive privilege as to the specific documents at issue here is "not in the best interests of the United States," given the "unique and extraordinary circumstances" giving rise to the Committee's request, and Congress's "compelling need" to investigate "an unprecedented effort to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power" and "the most serious attack on the operations of the Federal Government since the Civil War." Letter from Dana A. Remus, Counsel to the President, to David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States (Oct. 8, 2021), J.A. 107–108 ("First Remus Ltr."); see also Letter from Dana A. Remus, Counsel to the President, to David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States (Oct. 8, 2021), J.A. 113 ("Second Remus Ltr."); Letter from Dana A. Remus, Counsel to the President, to David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States (Oct. 25, 2021), J.A. 173–174 ("Third Remus Ltr.").

The central question in this case is whether, despite the exceptional and imperative circumstances underlying the Committee's request and President Biden's decision, a federal court can, at the former President's behest, override President Biden's decision not to invoke privilege and prevent his release to Congress of documents in his possession that he deems to be needed for a critical legislative inquiry.

On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden's judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the Political Branches over these documents. Both Branches agree that there is a unique legislative need for these documents and that they are directly relevant to the Committee's inquiry into an attack on the Legislative Branch and its constitutional role in the peaceful transfer of power.

More specifically, the former President has failed to establish a likelihood of success given (1) President Biden's carefully reasoned and cabined determination that a claim of executive privilege is not in the interests of the United States; (2) Congress's uniquely vital interest in studying the January 6th attack on itself to formulate remedial legislation and to safeguard its constitutional and legislative operations; (3) the demonstrated relevance of the documents at issue to the congressional inquiry; (4) the absence of any identified alternative source for the information; and (5) Mr. Trump's failure even to allege, let alone demonstrate, any particularized harm that would arise from disclosure, any distinct and superseding interest in confidentiality attached to these particular documents, lack of relevance, or any other reasoned justification for withholding the documents. Former President Trump likewise has failed to establish irreparable harm, and the balance of interests and equities weigh decisively in favor of disclosure.²

For those reasons, we affirm the district court's judgment denying a preliminary injunction as to those documents in the Archivist's first three tranches over which President Biden has determined that a claim of executive privilege is not justified.

I

A

On November 3, 2020, Americans elected Joseph Biden as President, giving him 306 electoral college votes. Then-President Trump, though, refused to concede, claiming that the election was "rigged" and characterized by "tremendous voter fraud and irregularities[.]" President Donald J. Trump, Statement on 2020 Election Results at 0:34–0:46, 18:11–18:15, C-SPAN (Dec. 2, 2020), https://www.c-span.org/video/?506975-1/president-trump-statement-2020-election-results (last accessed Dec. 7, 2021). Over the next several weeks, President Trump and his allies filed a series of lawsuits challenging the results of the election. Current Litigation , ABA: STANDING COMM. ON ELECTION LAW (April 30, 2021), https://perma.cc/9CRN-2464. The courts rejected every one of the substantive claims of voter fraud that was raised. See, e.g. , Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Secretary of Pennsylvania , 830 F. App'x 377, 381 (3d Cir. 2020) ("[C]alling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.").

As required by the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act, 3 U.S.C. § 15, a Joint Session of Congress convened on January 6, 2021 to certify the results of the election. 167 CONG. REC. H75–H85 (daily ed. Jan. 6, 2021). In anticipation of that event, President Trump had sent out a Tweet encouraging his followers to gather for a "[b]ig protest in D.C. on January 6th" and to "[b]e there, will be wild!" Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump), TWITTER (Dec. 19, 2020, 1:42 AM) ("Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election.").

Shortly before noon on January 6th, President Trump took the stage at a rally of his supporters on the Ellipse, just south of the White House. J.A. 180. During his more than hour-long speech, President Trump reiterated his claims that the election was "rigged" and "stolen," and urged then-Vice President Pence, who would preside over the certification, to "do the right thing" by rejecting various States' electoral votes and refusing to certify the election in favor of Mr. Biden. See Donald J. Trump, Rally on Electoral College Vote Certification at 3:33:05–3:33:10, 3:33:32–3:33:54, 3:37:19–3:37:29, C-SPAN (Jan. 6, 2021), https://www.c-span.org/video/?507744-1/rally-electoral-college-vote-certification (last accessed Dec. 7, 2021) ("January 6th Rally Speech"). Toward the end of the speech, President Trump announced to his supporters that "we're going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue * * * to the Capitol and * * * we're going to try and give our Republicans * * * the kind of pride and boldness that they need...