Supreme Court rules to allow House committee to see Arizona GOP chair’s phone records

Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will have access to the phone records of Arizona's GOP chair after a Supreme Court ruling on Monday.

Kelli Ward, chair of the GOP in Arizona, requested a stay and injunction from the Supreme Court to block the Jan. 6 committee from accessing her phone records in October. After a pause, the court denied Ward's request. The court ruled 7-2 with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito voting against the ruling.

Ward's phone service provider T-Mobile will be ordered to submit specific phone records that are relevant to the committee's investigation. The committee is not seeking the contents of any messages. Rather, it is looking for phone numbers and IP addresses Ward communicated with between Nov. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021. Ward has an active lawsuit against T-Mobile to stop the company from releasing those records. That lawsuit has not been ruled on.

The panel seeks information about Ward's involvement in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Ward and other "pro-Trump" electors allegedly coordinated a plan to disrupt the transfer of power.

Ward was instrumental in former President Donald Trump 's efforts to change the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. She has noted her involvement in trying to overturn the results in Arizona. She is one of 84 alternative electors that has been subpoenaed by the committee.

Ward's attempts to block the committee from seeing her phone records failed at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, confirming an earlier ruling by a lower court. The lawsuit alleged the House committee is targeting Ward for her political alignment and accessing her phone records may violate her First Amendment rights. The Court of Appeals shot down the lawsuit with a 2-1 vote.

Associate Justice Elena Kagan temporarily halted the process of accessing Ward's phone records in October so it may review the application for an injunction.

Arizona's GOP chair was also part of a lawsuit led by Rep. Louie Gohmert R-Texas, which sought to force Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election results on Jan. 6.

This article originally appeared on UPI.com