A House committee investigating the January 6 US Capitol insurrection has requested that telecoms and social media companies preserve the personal communications of hundreds of people who may have been connected to the attack.
Two companies, Reddit and Facebook, issued short statements saying they will comply with the committee’s requests.
The committee, which only recently began its probe, did not ask the 35 companies to turn over the records — yet.
In letters sent on Monday, the panel asked them to save the records as part of the investigation into the January 6 insurrection, when a violent mob of former president Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building and interrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
The request includes the records of Mr Trump along with members of his family and several Republican members of Congress, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who could become speaker of the House if his party wins the majority in the 2022 elections, threatened the companies directly, tweeting that “a Republican majority will not forget” if they turn over information.
What the committee wants
The committee sent letters to the 35 companies on Monday as a part of its larger probe into the events of January 6, when Trump supporters attacked police, broke through windows and doors and sent members of Congress running for their lives.
The letters request that the companies “preserve metadata, subscriber information, technical usage information and content of communications for the listed individuals” from April 2020 to January 31, 2021.
The request includes the “content of communications, including all emails, voice messages, text or SMS/MMS messages, videos, photographs, direct messages, address books, contact lists and other files or other data communications".
The panel released the letters publicly but withheld the names of those on the list, though Bennie Thompson, the committee's Democratic chairman, said last week that it numbered in the “hundreds".
The companies that received the letters include social media companies Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, telecoms companies such as AT&T and Verizon, and conservative and far-right platforms Parler and 4chan.
The panel has also requested that 15 social media companies provide records about misinformation, foreign influence and domestic extremism on their platforms related to the 2020 election. But the requests to preserve personal communications raise unique questions about the relationship between the technology companies and Congress.
Why the committee wants the information
Democrats have said they will examine all aspects of the attack — including what Mr Trump was doing as it unfolded. Several Republican members of Congress spoke with the president that day and many of them have strongly supported his claims of widespread fraud in the election.
In the days immediately following the insurrection, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that some Republicans might have been connected to the far-right supporters who stormed the building or may have been involved in the planning of the attack.
The committee told the telecoms and social media companies, however, that “the inclusion of any individual name on the list should not be viewed as indicative of any wrongdoing by that person or others".
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An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of former president Donald Trump gather in front of the US Capitol Building in Washington, US, January 6, 2021. Reuters -
A supporter of US President Donald J. Trump sits on the desk of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after supporters of US President Donald J. Trump breached the US Capitol security in Washington. EPA -
Police detain a person as supporters of US President Donald Trump protest outside the US Capitol. AFP -
Protesters enter the US Capitol Building. AFP -
A protester holds a Trump flag inside the US Capitol Building near the Senate Chamber. AFP -
US Capitol police officers point their guns at a door that was vandalized in the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
Members of congress run for cover as protesters try to enter the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
Congress staffers barricade themselves after Trump supporters stormed inside the US Capitol. AFP -
Congress staffers barricade themselves after Trump supporters stormed inside the US Capitol. AFP -
Congress staffers hold up their hands while Capitol Police Swat teams check everyone in the room as they secure the floor of Trump supporters. AFP -
US Capitol Police stand detain protesters outside of the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
A supporter of US President Donald Trump sits at a desk after invading the Capitol Building. AFP -
A protester sits in the Senate Chamber. AFP -
Pro-Trump protesters tear down a barricade as they clash with Capitol police during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results by the US Congress. Reuters -
Police hold back supporters of US President Donald Trump as they gather outside the US Capitol's Rotunda. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol's Rotunda. AFP -
A protester is seen hanging from the balcony in the Senate Chamber. AFP -
Riot police prepare to move demonstrators away from the US Capitol. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces, as they storm the US Capitol. AFP -
A supporter of US President Donald Trump wears a gas mask as he protests after storming the US Capitol. AFP -
Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol following a rally. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol. AFP -
US President Donald Trump is seen on TV from a video message released on Twitter addressing rioters at the US Capitol, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest in the US Capitol Rotunda. AFP -
Paramedics perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a patient. AFP -
A wounded protester is carried on barricade as demonstrators breach the US Capital building grounds. Bloomberg -
US Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol earlier in the day on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. EPA -
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., cleans up debris and personal belongings strewn across the floor of the Rotunda in the early morning hours of the morning, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington. AP
Is this legal?
If the committee does eventually ask for the records, the decision on whether to comply, even partially, could be difficult for companies that want to co-operate but are also wary of turning over the private communications of members of Congress to their political rivals.
And because the request would be from Congress, and not law enforcement, the issue becomes more complicated.
Telecoms and technology companies field requests all the time from law enforcement and the courts to turn over private information, and they often comply. But even though the committee has the power to subpoena the information, the calculation on whether to co-operate with Congress is often as much of a political question as it is a legal one.
Democrats are in the majority, but Republicans could take over with a favourable election map in 2022. There are also regulatory and public relations factors. The issue is likely to be tied up in courts.
“It’s as much about the law as it is about the optics,” says G S Hans, a law professor at Vanderbilt University who specialises in First Amendment law and technology policy.
He says the companies are probably “talking about this from the general counsel’s office but also from their lobbying arms, because I think it’s both things at once".
