Group of 11 Republicans If telecommunications and social media companies comply with the House Special Committee’s record requirements for investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, they threaten to take legal action.
Rep. Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, announced on Friday that he and 10 other Republican members of the House of Representatives were involved in the “stop theft” rally on January 6 to promote the former president Donald TrumpThe false statement about the “stolen” election has sent threatening letters to 13 companies, including AT&T, T-Mobile, Facebook, Verizon, Google with Twitter.
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The letter stated that its Republican signatories “do not agree to disclose confidential call records and data,” and vowed that if these companies choose to comply with the committee’s record requirements, the legislators “will take all legal remedies.”
Biggs said in a statement: “The special committee on January 6 had neither the statutory nor the constitutional power to secretly request the telephone company to hand over the personal records of its customers.” statement“The committee’s power-hungry slander campaign knows that this request is a flagrant transcendence of the power of their Congress.”
“However, they insist that these companies have made a legally compromised decision,” Biggs added. “If these telephone companies succumb to such unconstitutional subpoenas, they will always set a precedent for infringing on the privacy of all Americans.”
The committee asked 35 telecommunications and social media companies to provide records on Monday, which immediately aroused the anger of Republicans.Friday’s letter was issued after earlier threats from the minority leader of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, California and representatives Marjorie Taylor GreenGeorgia, one of 11 Republicans who signed this letter.
McCarthy issued a statement on Tuesday predicting that Republicans will punish companies that comply with the requirements after regaining control of the government, and warned that “the Republican majority will not forget and will stand with Americans and let them take full responsibility in accordance with the law. “
Green in an interview Fox News‘ Tucker Carlson tonight On the same day, the defendant Democratic Party Use strategies designed to make the United States a “communist country.” She predicted that Republicans will control the country in 2022 and told telecommunications companies, “If they continue to do so, they will be shut down.”
A copy of Friday’s letter shared by Biggs asserted that Mississippi’s Democratic Special Committee Chairman Benny Thompson “obviously admitted” when he filed a request for records, insisting that Thompson “realized that he had no right to get angry with personal data.”
The letter warned these companies that if they “participate in secretly and legally dubious surveillance members,” they will not be “free from legal influence.” Congress.”
Weekly newspaper Contact the Thompson office for comments.
this Biggs shared letter It was written to Marissa Mayer, who was described as the “President and Chief Executive Officer” of Yahoo! Inc. Although Mayer did hold these titles for many years, she resigned and left the company completely after being acquired by Verizon in 2017.
Others who signed this letter include representatives Jim Jordan, Ohio, and Jim Banks, Indiana, before they were opposed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, they were initially designated as Republican members of the Select Committee Nancy PelosiMcCarthy withdrew all his nominations to the committee in protest.
After McCarthy withdrew the nomination, Republicans protested against partisanship and prejudice in the committee.represent Adam Kinsinger, Illinois, and Liz CheneyIn Wyoming, both of them voted to impeach Trump on suspicion of inciting the riots on January 6. They were elected by Democrats to the committee to represent the Republican Party.
