Arizona GOP chair says ‘thousands’ will be implicated if J6 committee looks at her phone: report

The chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party argued that thousands could be implicated if a federal judge does not quash a subpoena from the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"That will inevitably lead to the questioning of, and further subpoenas issued to, the thousands of Republicans in contact with plaintiffs," Kelli Ward attorney Alexander Kolodin argued in a new filing, the Tuscon Starreported Tuesday.

U.S. House of Representatives' general counsel Douglas Letter noted the Department of Justice was not seeking the content of conversations, just the meta-data.

"There can be no greater interest than investigating the first attempt to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power of its kind in our nation's history," Letter argued.

Ward, who was an alternate Arizona elector with her husband Mark, was subpoenaed by the select committee in February.

The subpoena cited a July 2021 report by Arizona 12 News correspondent Brahm Resnick.

"We need you to stop the counting," the article quoted Kelli Ward as texting Maricopa County Board's then-chairman, Clint Hickman.

The subpoena said Ward, "apparently spoke with former President Trump and members of his staff about election certification issues in Arizona. In addition, after the election, you sent out messages suggesting that the November 2020 election had been 'stolen' and posted a video advancing unsubstantiated theories of election interference by Dominion Voting Systems along with a link to a donation page to benefit the Arizona Republican Party."

The select committee wrote, "On December 14, 2020, you apparently acted as a purported Electoral College elector to meet and ultimately transmit to Congress a set of alternate Electoral College votes, which you described as 'represent[ing] the legal voters of Arizona.' And, after former President Trump and others encouraged Vice President Pence and members of Congress to prevent or delay the certification of the Electoral College votes during the Joint Session of Congress, and during the attack on the United States Capitol, you wrote on Twitter, 'Congress is adjourned. Send the elector choice back to the legislatures.' We would like to better understand these, and other, statements, events that you witnessed or in which you participated, and communications we believe you may have had with national, state, and local officials about the outcome of the November 2020 election."

U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa has not set a date for a hearing.

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