RNC sues Nancy Pelosi and House Jan. 6 committee over weaponizing congressional subpoena powers

The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Wednesday against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the House of Representatives January 6th Committee, and its members, seeking to stop the unlawful seizure of confidential party information.

“The RNC has sued to stop the January 6th Committee from unlawfully seizing confidential information about the internal activities of the Republican Party and millions of its supporters which is completely unrelated to the attack on the Capitol. Nancy Pelosi and the Committee have weaponized Congress’ investigatory powers by issuing this staggeringly broad subpoena which tramples on core First Amendment rights of the RNC and millions of Americans. The RNC is challenging this unconstitutional overreach so that one of America’s two major political parties may not use the force of government to unlawfully seize the private and sensitive information of the other,” said Justin Riemer, RNC Chief Counsel.

Pelosi’s committee has subpoenaed Salesforce.com for the RNC’s data without any legitimate basis, the RNC said in its lawsuit.

The RNC uses Salesforce technology to collect and maintain significant amounts of RNC data, including confidential and sensitive information about private individuals with whom the organization has engaged. All of this informs the development and execution of political strategy.

“Digital communication has revolutionized how political parties and other non-profit organizations to operate, allowing organizations to interact virtually with millions of Americans and becoming a central and core component of political activities,” the party said.

“The RNC had nothing to do with the violence that occurred at the Capitol and has repeatedly condemned it. In fact, the RNC was a target of violence and had a bomb placed outside of RNC headquarters, which put our staff in immediate danger and is something the committee has yet to investigate,” the Republican National Committee wrote.

The Jan. 6 Committee’s subpoena is so broad that it could expose the personal and private data of up to 60 million Americans and strategy on things like the party’s Election Day turnout operation and the Georgia Senate runoffs.

“This information has nothing to do with January 6th, and there is simply no reason the committee needs personal and private information on millions of Americans,” the RNC said. “Pelosi and the committee are weaponizing and abusing Congress’ investigatory power.”

Pelosi’s committee is illegitimate, “having rejected two Republicans that McCarthy appointed to the Committee – Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Jim Banks (R-IN) – an abuse of power for purely political reasons. Pelosi’s committee is unconstitutionally attempting to exercise law enforcement authority, with The New York Times reporting  that the committee ‘is employing techniques more common in criminal cases than in congressional inquiries.'”

In addition, the committee has dramatically exceeded its scope, issuing hundreds of wide-ranging subpoenas and demanded records well beyond the scope of the events of Jan. 6, 2021 in disregard of the checks and balances and the rule of due process.

The Republicans pointed out that in 2020, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) sent multiple emails falsely claiming that President Trump was “rigging” the election. And yet there was no investigation by Pelosi.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee also sent emails falsely accusing Republican officials of “rigging the voting laws”  and having “rigged the voting laws.” Again, no investigation by Pelosi.

The far-left Progressive Turnout Project sent a fundraising appeal claiming Mitch McConnell had committed “treason” and had worked to “rig”  the impeachment trial. The PAC sent a fundraising appeal suggesting if they didn’t get enough money, then “Trump will get away with cheating to rig the 2020 elections.”

In 2018, the DCCC sent out an email falsely claiming that President Trump had fired Robert Mueller.

“Pelosi is attempting to kneecap the RNC for political gain while trampling on free speech and freedom of political association. If Pelosi and her committee want to look at candidates and committees who lie to their donors to dupe them out of money, they should look at Democrats,” the Republican National Committee said.

To read the full lawsuit, click here.