The Supreme Court rejected Thursday an emergency plea from former President Donald Trump to intervene in the Justice Department’s federal investigation of the classified documents that were seized by the FBI from his South Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.
The one-sentence denial from the high court came a little more than a week after Mr. Trump requested that the justices overrule a lower-court decision barring the independent special master involved in the case from vetting classified documents.
There was no explanation with the court’s decision, but it means that a majority of the justices failed to side with Mr. Trump.
The Department of Justice has been probing whether the former president broke the law when he removed highly classified materials from the White House after exiting office and storing them at his Palm Beach home.
The Supreme Court’s rejection came at the same time the House Jan. 6 Select Committee held what is likely its final hearing on Capitol Hill as part of its investigation into Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The nine-person panel voted unanimously to subpoena him for testimony and documents, a move that was considered largely symbolic because the committee is winding down its probe and there is little expectation the former president will comply.
SEE ALSO: Jan. 6 committee eyes unprecedented confrontation with Trump
Mr. Trump responded to the committee news via a barrage of posts on his social media site Truth Social.
Among them, he said: “Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago? Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting? Because the Committee is a total ’BUST’ that has only served to further divide our Country which, by the way, is doing very badly - A laughing stock all over the World?”
He also posted a link to a news story about a claim from former top aide Kash Patel that the seized documents marked classified “were already declassified,” as well as posts about why the “Unselect Committee” didn’t investigate other matters and criticism of foreign policy and inflation under President Biden.
Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich added in a statement: “Instead of using their final days in power to make life for Americans any better, Democrats are doubling and tripling down on their partisan theatrics.”
Mr. Trump did not address the Supreme Court decision, and a request for comment to his office was not answered.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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