Donald Trump’s spokesperson Taylor Budowich has filed a lawsuit against the House committee investigating the January 6 riot outside the U.S. Capitol.
According to NBC News, Budowich wants to prevent the committee from obtaining his financial records.
In his complaint, Budowich says that he has already cooperated with the House, “including sitting for a four-hour deposition on December 22nd.”
But when Budowich returned home the next day, he received a notice from his bank—J.P. Morgan—saying that it would hand over his financial information to the committee unless he was able to legally block the House’s subpoena by 5pm on December 24.
“Budowich complied with the subpoena, producing more than 1,700 pages of documents and providing roughly four hours of sworn testimony,” the lawsuit states.
“The Select Committee’s deceptive tactics to ambush Mr. Budowich and deprive him of a meaningful opportunity to object to the production of personal financial records demonstrates a lack of good faith by the Select Committee,” the lawsuit says.
NBC News notes that it is unclear whether J.P. Morgan has already turned over Budowich’s documents, since he filed his complaint on the same day as the bank’s deadline.
“Democracy is under attack,” Budowich claimed in a statement posted to Twitter. “However, not by the people who illegally entered the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, but instead by a committee whose members walk freely in its halls every day.”
In its subpoena letter, the House committee suggested that Budowich has contributed to the riots by soliciting “a 501(c) organization to conduct a social media and radio advertising campaign encouraging attendance at the January 6th Ellipse rally and advancing unsupported claims about the result of the election.”
Budowich, however, maintains that he is being “punished” for continuing to support former President Donald Trump.
“I, however, am not, and I will not allow some politicians to intimidate me for my support of President Donald J. Trump,” Budowich said. “Government should not be a weapon that’s freely used against political opponents and private citizens—but it seems like this Democrat-led Congress is intent on codifying that precedent.”
The Hill observes that Budowich is but the latest individual to take legal action against the House committee investigating the riots. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as well as former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, have both filed complaints against it.
Trump, too, is actively seeking to prevent the Committee from gaining access to his own records.
Sources
Trump spokesman sues Jan. 6 panel over access to financial records
Trump spokesman suing Jan. 6 panel, says he is cooperating with investigation
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