Carlson: Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenaing Phone Records of Many Americans Accused of No Crime
Fox News host Tucker Carlson argued Tuesday night that Americans should be terrified by the blatantly unconstitutional actions of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Among its most disturbing violations, he said, was the subpoenaing of the phone records of many people who have not been accused of a 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 Jan. 6. She wasn’t even there,” Carlson said.
He explained 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 Jan. 6.
“For doing that, the most constitutionally protected of all activities, the Jan. 6 committee is demanding all of Caroline Wren’s phone records — that would include all of her text messages — from Nov. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31 of this year,” Carlson said.
The committee, which is chaired by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, also wants her bank records and everything she has written by hand, including her diary, Carlson 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,” he said.
The committee is also seeking the phone records of attorney John Eastman, who spoke at the Jan. 6 rally before then-President Donald Trump.
“Are you charged with or even accused of a crime?” Carlson asked Eastman.
“No, and there’s absolutely no evidence that I had any connection 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 that the committee’s subpoena is in effect a general warrant, backed by no probable cause or link 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,” he said.
Eastman said 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 after the 2020 election.
“They’re just shredding the entire Constitution and then claiming that 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 that they’re using Soviet, Stalinist tactics to do it,” he added.
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 Department of Justice 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 Trump’s White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Meadows’ attorney sent a letter to Thompson on Tuesday, saying his client would no longer cooperate with the committee’s investigation.
CNN reported that the committee has subpoenaed the phone records of over 100 people, many of whom are former Trump officials and associates.
The 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,” 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 US Capitol.”
A version of this article originally appeared on Patriot Project.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
