11 House Republicans Threaten Companies With Legal Action if They Hand Records Over to 1/6 Committee
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11 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to 13 companies threatening to “pursue all legal remedies” if they hand over records to the January 6 select committee.
On Monday, CNN reported which members of Congress the committee is seeking phone records from:
The list is said to be evolving and could be added to as the investigation steps up. As of now it includes Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Paul Gosar also of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jody Hice of Georgia and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
Boebert, Greene, Biggs, Gosar, Brooks, Cawthorn, Gaetz, Gohmert, Hice, Perry, and Jim Banks co-signed the letter to the following companies (per Fox Business): “Amazon, AOL, Apple, AT&T, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Snap, T-Mobile, Twitter, U.S. Cellular, Verizon and Yahoo.”
They write that these companies should not comply with the committee’s request because “Congress has no general power to inquire into private affairs and to compel disclosure in order to expose for the sake of exposure.”
Chairman [Bennie] Thompson is asking your company to participate in surreptitious and legally dubious surveillance of Members of Congress… As you are aware, your company has a legal obligation to protect the data of your subscribers and customers, and we are confident that you will follow the law and not disclose their private and confidential records without a legal order to do so.
“If you fail to comply with these obligations,” they conclude, “we will pursue all legal remedies. Please be advised that the undersigned do not consent to the release of confidential call records or data.”
11 House Republicans send letters to 13 telecom companies vowing to “pursue all legal remedies” if they comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s records request.
“Please be advised that the undersigned do not consent to the release of confidential call records or data,” it concludes. pic.twitter.com/EM2m5b7Lv5
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) September 3, 2021
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — whose communications are also reportedly being sought — issued a veiled threat earlier this week that if these companies comply and the GOP wins the midterms, “a Republican majority will not forget.”
Greene even said on Fox News, “If they go along with this, they will be shut down.”
Biggs, who leads the House Freedom Caucus, wants McCarthy to kick Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger out of the House Republican Conference because of their presence on the 1/6 committee.
