Appeals court rules in Donald Trump's favour over secret January 6 records
Former US President Donald Trump has scored a minor win in his bid to keep his presidential records a secret from a congressional committee investigating him.
A federal judge this week had rejected a bid from the former president to stop his files being delivered to Congress today.
Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled on Tuesday that Mr Trump could not cite "executive privilege" to keep his records secret.
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Donald Trump is fighting to keep his presidential records secret. AP
"Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff (Mr Trump) is not President," she wrote.
But his lawyers sought an injunction from the DC Court of Appeals so they could appeal the decision.
"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," lawyer Jesse Binnall wrote in his injunction.
The three-judge panel ruled in Mr Trump's favour this morning, allowing the documents to remain secret until a court hearing at the end of this month.
The records are being sought by the January 6 committee, the congressional team investigating the storming of the Capitol earlier this year.
U.S. Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the Congress building. AP
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The committee is seeking to determine Mr Trump's involvement in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Among the records the committee is seeking are the outtakes of the video Mr Trump made encouraging his supporters to go home during the January 6 riot.
"The president, it took him six times for the video to say to the people to go home," committee chair Bennie Thompson said.
"If in the midst of an insurrection, it takes you six times to ... ask the people to go home, something is wrong with that.
"I want to see what the other five videos said."
The storming of the US Capitol happened immediately following Donald Trump's rally. AP
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Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building on January 6 in a bid to stop Joe Biden's election win from being formalised by Congress.
One officer died and 15 others were hospitalised after they were attacked by the violent mob.
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