Just hours after the Republican-led US Senate rejected a motion from the Democrats to allow new witnesses and evidence in the trial of President Donald Trump, the administration acknowledged internal emails released earlier revealed the President’s thinking on the Ukraine affair.

A Trump administration official wrote in a Friday night court filing that of the 111 emails in the lawsuit 24 were protected by “presidential privilege”. These emails, exchanged between the White House, the office of management and budget and the defence department, were about Ukraine. They were released in December following a lawsuit filed by a non-profit news organization called the Center for Public Integrity. The new filing came in response to a request from the organization for the release of un-redacted versions of these emails.

Democrats had slammed the Republican block on new witnesses as a “cover up” and “tragic”. Charles Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said in a statement about the emails, “Every single Republican Senator voted to endorse the White House coverup of these potentially important truth-revealing emails,” and added, “Make no mistake, the full truth will eventually come out and Republicans will have to answer for why they were so determined to enable the president to hide it.”

“Specifically, the documents in this category are emails that reflect communications by either the President, the Vice President, or the President’s immediate advisors regarding Presidential ­decision-making about the scope, duration, and purpose of the hold on military assistance to Ukraine,” Molly Walsh, an OMB official, wrote in the filing.

Among witnesses, Democrats wanted the Senate to invite is the president’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton. In manuscripts in circulation of his upcoming book, he has claimed to have been personally told by the president to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival in a quid pro quo for unfreezing military aid. The president and his defenders have denied any wrongdoing.

Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives last December for abusing the powers of his office to coerce Ukraine to investigate his political rivals and for obstructing Congress’s inquiry into it, according to two articles of impeachment.