Judge Dismisses Bid to Quash Jan. 6 Panel Subpoena of Arizona GOP Party Chair’s Phone Records

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit to quash a subpoena issued by the House January 6 committee for the phone records of Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward.

U.S. District Court Judge Diane J. Humetewa, an Obama appointee, rejected Ward’s arguments that handing over the records would infringe her constitutional rights and violate medical privacy laws.

This comes after the committee earlier this year issued subpoenas to people with knowledge of efforts to send alternative Republican electors to Washington in support of then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 general elections.

In December 2020, Republican electors in seven states, including Arizona, cast alternative Electoral College votes for Trump. Ward has previously said that from their perspective, they represented the legitimately cast votes in those elections, which she said were marred by irregularities and allegations of fraud.

Ward and her husband were among 14 of 84 of these alternative electors who disputed the results of the general elections.

The committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol sought Ward’s and her husband’s phone records for the three months leading up to January 2021.

“That three-month period is plainly relevant to its investigation into the causes of the January 6th attack. The Court therefore has little doubt concluding these records may aid the Select Committee’s valid legislative purpose,” Humetewa said in her ruling (pdf).

Subpoena

T-Mobile contacted Ward’s medical practice on Jan. 25 to inform them that the House committee sent a subpoena for their phone records for the three-month period from Nov. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2021.

The committee requested information about, among other things, the name, address, email, contact information, authorized users, length of the service, device serial, and ID numbers associated with the account.

Additionally, the committee sought all call, message, IP, and data-connected detail records associated with

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