Former Trump adviser Flynn sued the House committee on Jan. 6 to block the release of phone records

[ad_1]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (Reuters)-Michael Flynn, a longtime adviser to former President Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in a congressional committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in hopes prevent it from taking his notes on the phone.

Flynn announced in a lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, that the subpoena given to him by the House of Representatives on Jan. 6 was too broad in the scope of the Select Committee and punished him for constitutionally protected speech that he made as a private citizen.

Flynn also accused in the case that the congressional committee “had no authority to conduct business because it was not a duly composed Select Committee.”

Register today for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

The appeals court rejected that argument, ruling on Dec. 9 that the committee was valid and entitled to see White House records that Trump tried to protect from public view.

The committee issued a subpoena to Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, in November, seeking testimony and documents about a “command center” at Washington’s Willard Hotel set to guide efforts to deny Democrat Joe Biden on his election victory in November 2020. Trump is wrong to say he lost the election because of widespread electoral fraud.

In the weeks after the election, Flynn urged Trump to deploy the military to reverse the results and gave speeches that sowed doubts about the vote.

A spokesman for Jan. 6 Select Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Flynn’s lawsuit is the latest in a flood of litigation by the committee’s targets seeking to prevent it from enforcing its subpoenas for testimony or communication.

Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and founder of right-wing website Infowars, filed a similar lawsuit on Monday. read more

Trump similarly sought to block the committee from taking his notes to the White House from Jan. 6 and in earlier days, insisting they were protected by a legal doctrine called executive privilege. The appellate court rejected Trump’s arguments last week. He is expected to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

Flynn was indicted as part of former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s influence in the 2016 U.S. presidential election that Trump won.

Flynn, a retired Army general, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his interactions with the Russian ambassador to the United States in January 2017. He later sought to withdraw the plea, arguing that he had been deceived by prosecutors in a plea agreement. Trump later forgave him.

Register today for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Edited by Peter Cooney

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[ad_2]