Republican National Committee sues House panel investigating Jan. 6 to block subpoena for donor, supporter info
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WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday aiming to block a subpoena for documents about the party’s donors and supporters by the House committee investigating the Capitol attack Jan. 6, 2021.
Several lawsuits have been filed challenging the panel’s subpoenas. The subpoenas and the committee’s authority to issue them have been upheld in the U.S. District and D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
But the RNC lawsuit adds a political angle by arguing that the Democratic House and its investigative panel are seeking valuable, confidential information about party donors, volunteers and other supporters. The lawsuit named House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the nine members of the committee as defendants.
“The Select Committee’s fishing expedition would only serve to chill the RNC’s and its supporters’ First Amendment rights, while providing their political opponents with an all-access pass to confidential RNC political strategies and the personal information of millions of its supporters,” the 29-page lawsuit said.
The House committee is working to document what led to the Jan. 6 attack and what happened minute by minute that day. About 140 police officers were injured when a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters ransacked the building and temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College votes. The panel could hold hearings as soon as April on its findings.
The Feb. 23 subpoena to Salesforce.com, a key data and digital vendor for the GOP, sought five types of records. Included were metrics that gauged how many people opened the Trump campaign’s email, login information for campaign and party staffers, and documents about protests and assemblies Jan. 5 and 6.
More: Who invaded the US Capitol on Jan. 6? Criminal cases shed light on offenses
“If allowed to stand, this unprecedented sweep of a national political party’s donors’ and supporters’ private information will surely chill constitutionally protected political activity and subject the RNC’s supporters to the risk of reprisals by those who disagree with their support of the Republican Party and its candidates,” the lawsuit said.
In a letter accompanying the subpoena, the committee noted that Trump campaign emails "were certainly inflammatory, with nearly every email suggesting the election was fraudulent." The House impeached Trump, charging him with inciting the attack, but the Senate acquitted him.
Besides the political angle, the RNC lawsuit made similar arguments to previous cases against the committee. Trump sought to block access to administration documents under a claim of executive privilege, under arguments the District and Appeals courts rejected and the Supreme Court refused to hear.
Others such as Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, argued the committee wasn’t properly formed because House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California refused to appoint members to it and that it serves no legislative purpose.
But Pelosi named two Republicans – Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – to the panel with seven Democrats. Lawmakers say they will propose legislation based on the panel's findings. And courts have upheld committee subpoenas so far.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RNC sues to block subpoena from House Jan. 6 panel over supporter data
