A federal judge has agreed to temporarily waylay a subpoena to Salesforce from the January 6 Committee for records tied to the Republican National Committee’s dissemination of former President Donald Trump’s election fraud conspiracies to fundraisers and other party supporters.
Investigators argue those records could illuminate how the RNC and the Trump campaign used the software vendor to amp up disinformation and provide a platform for “inflammatory” rhetoric to be sent to the masses, including fundraising email blasts sent right up to 30 minutes before the assault began.
Related: Republican National Committee sues to stop Jan. 6 subpoena
During Wednesday’s status hearing before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, both RNC and the Jan. 6 Committee counsel jointly proposed and agreed to extend the deadline for compliance by Salesforce.
Kelly is not currently in the jurisdiction, he said. But when he returns to Washington next week, given both parties' preference for in-person hearings, that would put arguments on the docket for April 1.
Judge Kelly promised to issue a ruling no later than April 6.
The RNC sued the committee last week to stop a Feburary subpoena sent to Salesforce, a company that holds a mountain of records tied to the Trump campaign’s reelection bid.
But the RNC decided to amend their lawsuit rather abruptly when Salesforce attorneys informed them they would comply with the subpoena, the RNC’s amended lawsuit noted.
In turn, the RNC opted to sue Salesforce.
Adding Salesforce as a defendant, the RNC slammed the committee’s demand as a dire violation of its constitutional rights and dangerous overreach that could expose data belonging to millions of RNC supporters and partners as well as “internal deliberations and digital strategy” coveted by political opponents.
The subpoena, according to the RNC, requested detailed metrics from their organization as well as the Trump campaign and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, including data on engagement rates or “login sessions” by Trump campaign or RNC officials using Salesforce’s cloud platform.
According to the RNC’s complaint, the committee also seeks records from each day in January 2021 that involved any discussion or investigation or analysis on protests, rallies, speeches, or marches in D.C. on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6.
Older data reaching back from Election Day 2020 through Jan. 31, 2021, involving internal analysis by Salesforce about the use of its platform with the RNC and Trump campaign is also demanded.
The RNC vehemently maintains that it had “nothing to do with the violence that occurred at the Capitol,” according to a press release found on its website announcing the lawsuit.
Adding Salesforce as a defendant, RNC Chief Counsel Justin Riemer said, was meant to expedite their fight to keep the documents private while also “[protecting] the constitutional rights of the Republican Party and its millions of supporters.”
RNC Motion for Prelim Injunction by Daily Kos on Scribd
Though the RNC insists the “breadth and invasiveness of the Salesforce subpoena is astounding,” investigators insist that their latest demand is essential to examining and understanding how Jan. 6 came to be, in its entirety.
Salesforce Subpoena From Ja... by Daily Kos
