US Supreme Court spurns Trump bid to keep Capitol attack records secret

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected former President Donald Trump's request to block the release of White House records sought by the Democratic-led congressional panel investigating last year's deadly attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

The decision means the documents, held by a federal agency that stores government and historical records, can be disclosed even as litigation over the matter continues in lower courts.

Trump's request to the justices came after the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Dec. 9 ruled that the businessman-turned-politician had no basis to challenge President Joe Biden's decision to allow the records to be handed over to the House of Representatives select committee.

Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, the panel's chairman, and Republican Representative Liz Cheney, its vice chair, in a statement called the Supreme Court action "a victory for the rule of law and American democracy." The committee has already begun receiving some of the documents Trump had hoped to withhold, they added.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.