Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday granted Arizona Republican leader Kelly Ward a temporary stay, and Ward asked the Supreme Court to block a subpoena for her connection to a Jan. 1 phone call. 6 Special committee investigation.
push the news: In an emergency filing Wednesday, Ward asked a judge to temporarily block a lower court decision that would have required her cell phone provider to turn over her phone records to the commission.
- Justice Kagan also ordered a response to the petition by 5 p.m. ET Friday.
catch up fast: An appeals court over the weekend rejected Ward’s claim that her First Amendment rights would be challenged if investigators found out who she was talking to while trying to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to the Associated Press.
- The subpoena asks T-Mobile to turn over calling and texting activity between November 2020 and January 2021 to T-Mobile.
big picture: According to Politico, Ward posed as a fake voter for former President Trump, refusing to answer questions during her own testimony to the panel.
zoom out: Ward is the latest in a string of other high-ranking Republicans to appeal to the Supreme Court in recent weeks.
- On Monday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily blocked an Atlanta grand jury subpoena seeking testimony from senators. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) is involved in the investigation into criminal activity that could overturn the 2020 election.
- Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s petition to bar the special chief in the Mar-a-Lago investigation from reviewing classified documents obtained at the former president’s Florida mansion.
This story has been updated with more developments.