A federal court dismissed a lawsuit from Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward attempting to block a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee issued at the beginning of the year.
U.S. District Judge Diana Humetewa said the Jan. 6 committee provided legitimate reasons to subpoena the phone records of Ward and her husband, as well as their company, Mole Medical Services P.C., from T-Mobile.
“That three-month period is plainly relevant to its investigation into the causes of the January 6th attack,” the ruling states. “The Court therefore has little doubt concluding these records may aid the Select Committee’s valid legislative purpose.”
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The subpoena specifically focused on information from Nov. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2021, according to court documents.
The Wards’ lawsuit argued that the subpoena was unauthorized and “means to chill the First Amendment associational rights not just of the [Plaintiffs] but of the entire Republican Party in Arizona.”
However, Humetewa said the claims that the subpoena is politically motivated and an attempt to “harass or persecute political rivals” is highly speculative and that any harassment has already occurred.
“Although Plaintiffs allege that they have ‘received death threats, harassing letters, phone calls, and threatening and sexually explicit comments,’ because of the January 6th attack and Plaintiff Ward’s associational status with the Arizona GOP, the Court notes these incidents have already occurred,” the ruling states.
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Ward has attracted criticism, even within her own party, for challenging the 2020 election results. She and her husband helped organize pro-Trump electors even though President Joe Biden was already declared the winner of Arizona.
The GOP chairwoman indicated that she will appeal the ruling in a notice to the court on Friday morning, per Politico.
