Judge rejects RNC effort to block Jan. 6 committee subpoena

A federal judge overnight rejected a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee against the committee probing the Jan. 6 attack that had sought to block the panel's effort to obtain fundraising information and other data related to attack on the Capitol.

The decision could impact multiple other lawsuits brought by various allies of former President Donald Trump who have sued to block the Jan. 6 committee from obtaining their records from telecommunications companies.

Judge Tim Kelly, a Trump appointee, rejected arguments by the RNC that the Jan. 6 committee does not have a valid legislative purpose, and further bolstered the panel's legitimacy by rejecting Republican arguments that the panel's makeup is flawed.

Referencing the Jan. 6 committee's request for records from Nov. 3, 2020, to January 6, 2021, Kelly in his decision wrote "that two-month window is plainly relevant to its investigation into the causes of the January 6 attack."

An RNC official said the RNC will appeal the decision.

"While the RNC strongly disagrees with this ruling, our lawsuit compelled Nany Pelosi's January 6th Committee to dramatically narrow the subpoena's scope," said RNC Chief Counsel Matt Raymer. "Nancy Pelosi's attempted seizure of her political opponents' campaign strategy cannot be allowed to stand, and we appreciate Judge Kelly continuing to temporarily block the subpoena. The RNC will continue to fight for the Constitutional rights of Republicans across the country and will appeal this decision."

The lawsuit, which was brought in March, claims the subpoena unlawfully seeks "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."

A spokesperson for the Jan. 6 committee said the information being sought is relevant to the panel's probe.

"Between Election Day 2020 and January 6th, the RNC and the Trump campaign solicited donations by pushing false claims that the election was tainted by widespread fraud," Jan. 6 committee spokesperson Tim Mulvey said following the filing of the suit. "These emails encouraged supporters to put pressure on Congress to keep President Trump in power. Claims about a stolen election motivated rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6th."

The judge gave the RNC until May 5 to appeal.