The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the House special committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection to gain access to phone records belonging to Kelli Ward, the Arizona Republican Party’s chairwoman.
While the brief order had been unsigned, conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have hinted that the relief request was filed by Kelli Ward and her husband.
The Jan. 6 panel has issued a subpoena to T-Mobile, Ward’s phone carrier, as Ward is a key figure in the investigation regarding Trump’s actions following the 2020 election. Trump lost in Arizona during that election run.
Ward and her husband, Michael Ward, were only two of the 11 Arizonans who signed a fake election certificate that would show former President Trump as having won the state. After the lower court had denied their request to shield their records, their request for emergency relief was sent to the Supreme court. Congressional investigators have spent the last year examining the Capitol attack on Jan 6. Of 2021 and looking at how the attack was formulated.
The Jan. 6 House committee has alleged that the multistate attempt for fake electors was a key part of the efforts to overturn the results of the elections, which is what led to the attack.
The Wards have claimed that the Jan. 6 investigation is politically motivated, and have said that the justices should look into their case as it could have implications for the constitutional right to free political association.
Last month, a divided panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit voted 2-1 to deny the Wards’ request to block T-Mobile for complying with the subpoena.
