Court filings from over the weekend have confirmed the January 6 Committee has issued a subpoena for phone records belonging to Annette Shroyer, the mother of Owen Shroyer, an employee of right-wing conspiracy theory peddler Alex Jones.
Owen Shroyer was charged by prosecutors last summer with disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. He maintains he is innocent and has broadcast in court to investigators that should they subpoena him directly, he would plead the Fifth Amendment. Just like his boss.
In an eight-page request asking for Annette Shroyer’s subpoena to be dismissed, Jones’ attorney Norman Pattis slammed the committee’s investigation of Jan. 6.
Calling it a “vendetta of personal harassment,” Pattis made the increasingly indefensible legal argument that the committee was acting beyond the scope of its authority with the subpoena to Annette Shroyer.
Shroyer Amendment by Daily Kos on Scribd
But what is unclear is whether the subpoena for Annette Shroyer is intended to capture her phone metadata specifically or that of her son’s. Owen could be on his mother’s mobile family plan and historically, the committee has issued subpoenas to family members of Jan. 6 defendants to get at information.
For investigators, getting at that metadata is critical because much of the information around the role Alex Jones played on Jan. 6 is murky. At least publicly.
Jones led supporters down Pennsylvania Avenue on Jan. 6 towards the U.S. Capitol. He has insisted that he did not have a “premeditated plan” and that he was outraged at the violence and chaos he witnessed. But he also boasted about raising funds for the event and delivered frenzied remarks about the need to “take back” the country and have “another 1776.”
Jones has not been charged with any crimes related to Jan. 6. He first sued the committee in December to stop a subpoena for his phone records.
Annette Shroyer’s addition to that lawsuit is the second of its kind in the last month. Tim Enlow, who served as a security guard to Jones on Jan. 6 received a subpoena for his AT&T records on Feb. 9. He sued to block the subpoena, too.
Jones’ attorney Norman Pattis has chalked up the committee subpoenas to investigators making unfair end-runs of financially vulnerable people in Jones’ circle.
The committee did not immediately respond to request for comment Monday.