Former Trump adviser and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn on Tuesday sued the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, seeking to block the panel from obtaining his phone records.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Florida, Flynn alleged that the subpoena issued to him by the committee last month was too broad in scope and punishes him for constitutionally protected speech he engaged in as a private citizen.
“Flynn has raised significant Constitutional and practical concerns that preclude his compliance with the subpoena without clarification of its scope and terms by the Select Committee,” the lawsuit states.
The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser also alleged in the lawsuit that the congressional committee “has no authority to conduct business because it is not a duly constituted Select Committee.”
An appeals court has rejected that argument, ruling on Dec. 9 that the committee was valid and entitled to see White House records Trump has tried to shield from public view.
The House Select Committee has requested that Flynn testify before the panel, and that he hand over documents about a “command center” at Washington’s Willard Hotel the committee alleges was set up to steer efforts to deny Democrat Joe Biden his November 2020 election win.
“Without intervention by this Court, General Flynn faces the harm of being irreparably and illegally coerced to produce information and testimony in violation of the law and his constitutional rights,” the lawsuit says. “He will also illegally and irreparably harmed by the Select Committee’s unlawful and secret seizure of his and his family’s personal information from their telecommunications and/or electronic mail service providers.”
Flynn’s lawsuit comes nearly a week after freelance photojournalist Amy Harris filed a lawsuit against the committee in federal court in Washington, seeking to block a subpoena. Her lawsuit argues that demanding her phone records violates her right not to reveal confidential sources.
Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows also sued the House of Representatives panel this month after they said they would move to hold him in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition at the request of the committee.
Meadows’s lawsuit, filed in a Washington, D.C. federal court, asks a judge to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are “overly broad and unduly burdensome.” It accuses the committee of overreaching by issuing a subpoena to Verizon for his cellphone records.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Jan. 6 Select Committee for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
