The Trump administration on Monday night withdrew a request asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block an order forcing it to release thousands of internal White House documents related to its military transgender policy.
The application to the high court was withdrawn after a federal district court in Washington granted a temporary stay on the order as it weighs arguments over the release of the emails and other confidential correspondence by Trump and other officials.
The internal documents surrounding Trump’s July 2017 tweets announcing a complete ban on transgender military service have become front and center as a federal civil suit filed against the president and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Seattle moves toward trial.
Plaintiffs including active-duty transgender troops want access to the documents and argue they will shed light on whether the president acted “after consultation with my Generals and military experts,” as he tweeted, or whether his announced ban was prompted by discrimination.
The Justice Department has argued that the emails and other documents are privileged and should not be allowed as part of the pretrial discovery process in the case.
The case is expected to go to trial sometime next year and is among four federal civil suits filed against the president and Mattis over the Pentagon’s proposal to roll back open service by transgender troops.
The Pentagon’s new policy would bar many transgender people from enlisting and has been on hold by courts overseeing each of the lawsuits.
