The Republican National Committee (RNC) has filed a lawsuit against the Jan. 6th House Select Committee to stop one of its vendors from turning over records.
Background: As part of the House panel’s investigation into the events of Jan. 6th Capitol a number of Trump allies, rally officials, media pundits, and administration officials have been subpoenaed by the committee to provide records or testimony.
The House panel had subpoenaed records related to the GOP’s fundraising and donor efforts from Salesforce. com Inc, a commercial marketing platform the party used to manage communications with donors.
What Happened: On Wednesday, the RNC filed the suit in federal court in Washington, D.C.
The suit alleges that the committee’s subpoena violates the RNC’s constitutional rights and is overly broad.
The RNC further argues that the panel itself was invalidly formed and therefore lacks the authority to demand such records.
“The Salesforce Subpoena demands production of sensitive and proprietary data over more than a two-month period, which would give the Select Committee unprecedented access to the RNC’s internal political strategies and to private, personal information regarding its supporters,” the committee wrote in its lawsuit. (per The Wall Street Journal)
The lawsuit names House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a defendant, along with the other panel members.
What the RNC Says: The RNC has shared concerns that private donor data could accidentally be shared with the House panel which could violate federal election law.
What The House Panel Says: The House panel says it is not seeking records on individual donors
“The Select Committee issued a subpoena to an email fundraising vendor in order to help investigators understand the impact of false, inflammatory messages in the weeks before January 6th, the flow of funds, and whether contributions were actually directed to the purpose indicated,”’ said Tim Mulvey, a spokesman for the committee. “This action has absolutely nothing to do with getting the private information of voters or donors.” (per The Wall Street Journal)
Why It Matters: The RNC’s lawsuit joins more than a dozen other legal efforts to avoid the panel’s records requests.
However, the questions regarding the protection of the RNC’s political speech and donor privacy that the RNC has raised in its lawsuit haven’t yet been considered by courts in other Jan. 6 litigation.
