WATCH: Chris Cuomo Breaks News to 1/6 Committee Chairman That Judge Just Ruled in His Favor Against Trump
Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to shield documents from the House select committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riot took a hit on Tuesday night.
Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the National Archives can turn over documents containing communications related to the riot can be turned over to the select committee. As it turned out, CNN’s Chris Cuomo happened to be interviewing committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) as news of the decision broke.
It was a rare instance of a member of the news media delivering a news-worthy item to a politician rather than the other way around.
The decision will almost certainly be appealed.
“I actually have breaking news that you’re gonna want to weigh in on,” said Cuomo. “Control room, I don’t think we should take a break. If we have breaking news, we should go with it right now. Congressman Bennie Thompson, help me out with this. We just got word that there is a decision on the situation involving President Trump’s exercise of privilege. Trump will lose this round. Federal judge Tanya Chutkan has ruled the U.S. House select committee should have access to records from his presidency about January 6th.”
Cuomo asked Thompson, “How big of a decision is this for you? What do you believe is to be gained from these documents?”
“Well, it’s a big deal,” said the chairman. “We have the law on our side. And you know, we are a nation of laws. So if you take your issue to court and lose, then you need to man up and deal with it and not be a spoiled brat. So I look forward to getting this information. I look forward to our investigators going through it with a fine-toothed comb to make sure that our government was not weaponized against its citizens.”
In her decision, Chutkan wrote, “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President. He retains the right to assert that his records are privileged, but the incumbent President ‘is not constitutionally obliged to honor’ that assertion.”
Watch above via CNN.
