DALLAS — A Dallas-based lawyer and former attorney for Donald Trump filed a lawsuit this week against Verizon to stop the release of phone records and data to the congressional committee that's investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In January 2022, the House Select Committee to Investigate January 6th announced it had issued subpoenas for close allies of the former president, including his former attorney Sidney Powell, who is a practicing member of the Texas bar with an office in Dallas.
In the committee’s letter to Powell, it sought any evidence she had to support the claims of election fraud that she made on behalf of Trump.
According to court documents, Powell also argues that any of her phone records that the committee has subpoenaed from Verizon in relation to the Jan. 6 investigation shouldn’t be released for several reasons, including attorney-client privilege and a violation of her First Amendment rights.
Powell’s attorney says his client had “no involvement in the events of January 6th, yet the DOJ is seeking records that contain client privileges held by numerous clients.”
The lawsuit additionally argues that the Feb. 4 subpoena of Verizon for her phone records violates the Stored Communications Act, which says that an electronic service provider "shall not knowingly divulge to any person or entity the contents of a communication while in electronic storage to that service."
Similarly, the suit also argues that the subpoena violates the Telecommunications Act of 1996 by seeking the "contents of a communication while in electronic storage" without the authorization of either Powell or the law.
According to court documents, Powell also believes her First Amendment rights have been violated because the subpoena is too general and no “governmental interest could be sufficiently important to permit it to delve through every phone call place or received” by Powell over a three-month period.
The lawsuit furthermore alleges that the subpoena violates the Fourth Amendment of unlawful search and seizure.
Ultimately, Powell’s lawsuit against Verizon alleges the company is acting beyond its authority, and that the subpoena it's being served is both unlawful and unenforceable.
Powell made similar claims about alleged frauds surrounding the 2020 presidential election, and was so steadfast in her position that the rest of Trump's campaign legal team -- including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani -- eventually distanced itself from her actions.
