Ninth Circuit Grants Jan. 6 Committee Access to Kelli Ward’s Phone Records

On Oct. 22, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-to-1 to deny former Arizona Republican State Senator Kelli Ward’s request for an injunction to block the release of her phone records to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

Ward was initially subpoenaed by the select committee on Feb. 15. The committee is seeking access to Ward’s phone records from Nov. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2021, as well as her testimony in connection with her alleged communications with an Arizona election official and former President Trump in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. 

In her previous motion to quash the subpoena and in her request for an injunction, the former Arizona state senator argued that the subpoena infringed upon her First Amendment rights by probing her activities and communications as chair of the Arizona Republican Party. The Ninth Circuit panel ruled that Ward has “not raised serious questions on the merits” and “is not likely to succeed on the merits” of her claims. Conversely, Judge Sandra Ikuta argued in dissent that the committee has not “provided any explanation as to why the phone records are relevant to the investigation” and that Ward’s challenge to the subpoena raises “serious questions going to the merits” of her First Amendment claim.

You can read the Ninth Circuit’s order here or below: