A federal appeals court blocked former Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward's attempt to block a subpoena of her phone records requested by the House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
In a 2-1 decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the subpoena of Ward's phone records from Nov. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2021, from T-Mobile may now carry through. The GOP Senate candidate in Arizona previously argued that the subpoena violated her First Amendment rights and infringed on her duties as chairperson of the state party.
Judge Sandra Ikuta, who broke with her colleagues and sought to dismiss the subpoena, wrote in her dissenting opinion that the committee has not provided any reasoning as to why the phone records are relevant to their investigation. "Moreover, because the Committee is 'no longer seeking... [Ward's] patient phone numbers,' and it is unlikely that the duration of Ward's calls with her children and parents, would provide the Committee with useful information about the events surrounding January 6, the only plausible explanation for the Committee's interest in Ward's phone records is that they reveal information about other Party members.