Carlson: Jan 6 Committee Subpoenaing Phone Records of Many Americans Accused of No Crime
Fox News host Tucker Carlson argued on his program Monday night that Americans should be terrified by the blatantly unconstitutional actions by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack.
Among the most disturbing violations, he said, was the subpoenaing of the phone records of many people who have been accused of no crime.
“We can tell you tonight, for example, that Democrats in Congress have just subpoenaed AT&T. They’re seeking the phone records of a young woman called Caroline Wren. Caroline Wren did not break into the Capitol on January 6th. She wasn’t even there,” Carlson said.
He recounted that she had been a fundraiser for GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and helped organize donations for the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., on January 6.
“For doing that, the most constitutionally protected of all activities, the January 6 Committee is demanding all of Caroline Wren’s phone records, that would include all her text messages, from November 1, 2020 to January 31 of this year,” Carlson said.
The committee, which is chaired by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, also wants her banks records and everything written by hand, including her diary, he added.
“Do you really want to live in a country where [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and Bennie Thompson, crazed partisans with no interest whatsoever in the United States Constitution, can seize your bank records, your text messages, your diary, simply because they don’t like who you voted for in the last election? Most Americans do not want to live in a country like that,” Carlson said.
Attorney John Eastman, who spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 before then-President Donald Trump, is another whose phone records the committee is seeking.
“Are you charged with or even accused of a crime?” Carlson asked Eastman.
“No, and there’s absolutely no evidence that I had any connections or communications with anybody who is charged with crimes,” Eastman answered.
“We’ve got a Fourth Amendment for one very clear reason,” the former law professor continued. “The English used to issue what was called general warrants and writs of assistance that would authorize British officers to just go wherever they wanted to look for evidence of crime.”
Eastman contended the committee’s subpoena is, in effect, a general warrant, backed by no probable cause or linkage to any criminal activity.
“They want to track Americans’ thinking. They want to know who your contacts are. They want to know who you were communicating with about election integrity and going back from even before the election occurred,” he said.
Eastman explained that the subpoenas violate Americans’ First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights.
The J6 committee has subpoenaed the phone records on hundreds of Americans who have been accused of no crime whatsoever, much less charged with one. @DrJohnEastman is one of those Americans. These are soviet style tactics targeting political opponents. Where are the Republicans? pic.twitter.com/yoOIFr1gdo
— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) December 7, 2021
“They’re going after lawyers like Cleta Mitchell and their phone records. Undoubtedly, records that include attorney-client privileged communications,” Eastman said.
Mitchell served on Trump’s legal team in Georgia after the November 2020 election.
“They’re just shredding the entire Constitution, and then claiming it’s us who don’t support the Constitution,” Eastman said.
“I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. This group that wants to advance a Soviet communist-style agenda, we shouldn’t be surprised they are using Soviet, Stalinist tactics to do it,” he added.
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Carlson asked, “So why comply?”
Eastman responded that Congress has the power to issue criminal contempt subpoenas and normally “those don’t go anywhere in such charades as this, but the Justice Department is fully in line.”
The DOJ brought a criminal indictment against former Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon last month for not complying with a congressional subpoena.
The Jan. 6 committee has also subpoenaed former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Meadows’ attorney sent a letter Tuesday to Thompson, saying his client will no longer cooperate with the committee’s investigation after learning Meadows’ phone records were subpoenaed.
CNN reported Tuesday that according to multiple sources, the committee has subpoenaed the phone records of over 100 people — many of whom are former Trump officials and associates.
The news outlet said the subpoenas went out to 35 social media and telecommunication companies, including “Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Sprint.”
“The committee has already begun receiving some data from phone providers, the sources said,” CNN reported. “The records do not include the content of the calls but rather details about who called or texted whom, when and for how long, giving them the ability to draw a web of communications before, during and after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
