RNC Says Congress Should Not Be Investigating Jan. 6 Attack on Congress

The Republican National Committee has hit out at the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack, suggesting that only law enforcement and the Executive Branch should be looking into Capitol riot.

As reported in court filings, the RNC admitted that criminal investigation into the January 6 attack and prosecution of those responsible is "entirely appropriate" but Congress itself should not be carrying out its own probe.

"The Executive Branch (through law enforcement and prosecutors) and the Judiciary (by hearing and deciding prosecutions) are the branches to accomplish this task," the filings said.

The RNC made the claims in a motion for an injunction it filed in its attempts to stop the Republican Party's email vendor, Salesforce, from complying with a subpoena the January 6 panel issued in February.

The RNC originally sued the House Select Committee while arguing their attempts to get information from the data and digital communication vendor was an unlawful effort to obtain the private and personal information of Republicans and GOP donors.

The RNC then added Salesforce as a defendant to its lawsuit to try to stop the company from turning over data to the January 6 select committee and said it would be seeking an immediate declaratory and injunctive relief.

"While a criminal investigation by the Executive Branch into the events of January 6, 2021, is undoubtedly a substantial government interest, that is not Congress's role," the RNC argued.

"Thus, the Salesforce Subpoena was not issued in support of a valid legislative purpose as required for the exercise of Congress's limited subpoena power."

The RNC also accused the January 6 panel of attempting to extend Congressional fact-finding authority "beyond even the powers of the Executive Branch," which they say cannot obtain the kind of information they seek without a warrant.

The House Select Committee has subpoenaed dozens of people within Donald Trump's inner circle as part of its investigation into the event, which preceded a mob storming the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress certifying the 2020 Election results in favor of Joe Biden.

In the filings, Salesforce suggested it may hand over documents to the January 6 House Select Committee as soon as on Wednesday, March 16, unless a court intervenes.

"The RNC has added Salesforce as a party to this action in order to ensure it can obtain effective and complete emergency relief until this dispute is finally resolved on the merits," the court filings state.

"Although the RNC has named Salesforce as a defendant in this action, the RNC does not believe that Salesforce has breached any contractual or other duty to the RNC."

The House Select Committee subpoenaed Salesforce to investigate whether Trump's campaign team used the company's email software tool to repeatedly send out false claims regarding the 2020 election in the weeks leading up to January 6 and therefore helped incite the attack on the Capitol.

The RNC accused the panel of "abusing its power" trying to subpoena Salesforce as part of a "fishing expedition" to obtain the RNC's private data and political strategy.

In its injunction filed in a District of Columbia court on Tuesday night, the RNC argued that Salesforce may hand over the details of "tens of millions of RNC supporters, donors, and other partners" the RNC communicates with.

"They also include materials that would reveal crucial elements of the RNC's internal deliberations and digital strategy such as metrics on how certain content performs, what subject lines and text messages lead to contributions, how certain individuals respond to specific content, and the results of message testing," the filings add.

In a statement confirming that they have added Salesforce as a defendant in their lawsuit, RNC Chief Counsel Justin Riemer said: "The RNC sued the Select Committee because its subpoena to Salesforce is unconstitutional.

"Even though the court has yet to weigh in, the Select Committee demands that Salesforce immediately turn over the private data of millions of Americans and the RNC's political strategy which lie at the heart of our lawsuit.

"These heavy-handed tactics are wrong and a clear overreach. In order to protect the constitutional rights of the Republican Party and its millions of supporters, the RNC has added Salesforce to the lawsuit and asked the court to expedite consideration of the case."

Select Committee spokesperson Tim Mulvey previously said the subpoena against Salesforce was issued so investigators could understand the impact of "false, inflammatory messages" in the run-up to January 6.

"This action has absolutely nothing to do with getting the private information of voters or donors," Mulvey said.

Salesforce has been contacted for comment.