The House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6 will reportedly request that a group of telecommunications companies preserve the phone records of Republican lawmakers, former President Trump and members of the Trump family who were involved in the “Stop the Steal” rally held shortly before Trump supporters breached the Capitol in an effort to overturn the election results, according to CNN.
Tim Mulvey, communications director for the committee, declined comment when reached by TPM.
CNN reported that it’s unclear how the committee will go about getting telecommunications companies to cooperate with their request. Although the committee has subpoena power, the phone records it’s requesting from GOP lawmakers could potentially spur a lengthy legal battle.
The committee reportedly decided not to publicize the names of lawmakers whose phone records they are looking to obtain.
But the list, CNN reported, currently includes Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Jody Hice (R-GA) and Scott Perry (R-PA).
CNN noted that more names could be added to the list of Republican lawmakers that the committee is seeking phone records from.
The committee targeted the group of GOP lawmakers after it concluded that each of them played some role in the “Stop the Steal” rally, according to CNN — at minimum, they attended, spoke, actively planned or urged people to attend it. Trump told his supporters during the rally to “fight like hell” to challenge the election results on the day of the joint session of Congress certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
The Trump loyalists targeted in the committee’s demand pushed election fraud falsehoods, with many also voting to object to the election results on Jan. 6.
According to CNN, the committee will also request that records of the former President be preserved, along with his daughter Ivanka, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is dating Trump Jr. and worked on the 2020 Trump campaign.
One glaring omission from the lawmakers that the committee is targeting in its phone records requests is House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who spoke to Trump during the Capitol insurrection.
Select committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who previously signaled that the committee would request the phone records of “several hundred” individuals, has not dismissed the idea of calling on McCarthy to testify before the panel if its investigation warrants it.
Last week, the committee sent a vast document request demanding that eight federal agencies provide information that are squarely aimed at Trump’s involvement in the Capitol insurrection. It also demanded records about the planning and execution of the attack from a range of tech companies that include Facebook, Twitter, Google, walkie-talkie app Zello, right-wing social networks Gab and Parler, and troll forums 4Chan and 8Kun.
The committee gave the federal agencies and tech companies until Sept. 9 to respond to the requests.
