September 2, 2021 ☼ mccarthy ☼ jan6
Source: The Washington Post - Link
As a special congressional committee probes how a violent insurrection swept the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — including what role House Republicans played, if any — the top House Republican issued a remarkable threat to try to stop a key part of their inquiry. It’s a threat that legal experts say isn’t founded in any law they know about.
The Jan. 6 committee has asked 35 telecommunication companies, like AT&T and Google, to hang onto phone records and other information related to the Jan. 6 attacks. CNN reported some of those logs include Republican members of Congress, former president Donald Trump and his family.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who opposed creation of the Jan. 6 committee, warned those companies that they would be violating federal law if they handed over those phone records.
To which two experts who served as House lawyers say: What federal law?
No one really knows what McCarthy is talking about, said Stanley Brand, a former lawyer for the House of Representatives.
There isn’t a specific law stopping these companies from handing over information to Congress. In fact, it’s arguably the opposite. Law enforcement agencies subpoena private companies all the time to get information, Brand said.
McCarthy likely knows this but he’s doing it to convince the base that the Jan6 committee is somehow doing something underhanded. This won’t be reported by Fox News.