Kelli Ward, chair of the Arizona Republican Party
By Howard Fischer || Capitol Media Services
The phone records of the chair of the Arizona Republican Party could be in the hands of the Jan. 6 committee within days unless she can convince a higher power – perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court – to intercede.
And quickly.
In an unusual weekend order, a majority of a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said that Kelli Ward is not entitled to keep the information from the congressional panel while she appeals a lower court ruling ordering disclosure. Judges Barry Silverman and Eric Miller said there is little likelihood she will succeed with arguments that a subpoena from the committee violates her First Amendment rights.
Potentially more significant, the judges said the demand for the numbers of whom Ward called and texted, and those she received during the period around the 2020 election and the Jan.6 riot is “substantially related” to the important interest of investigating the causes of the attack and protecting future elections from similar threats.
“Ward participated in a scheme to send spurious electoral votes to Congress, a scheme that the committee describes as ‘a key part’ of the ‘effort to overturn the election’ that culminated on January 6,” they wrote.
