(Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday temporarily blocked the House of Representatives committee investigating last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol from obtaining Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward’s phone records while the court further assesses the dispute.
Ward had asked the Supreme Court to intervene after lower courts declined to bar telephone carrier T-Mobile from complying with a subpoena from the Democratic-led committee seeking three months of her call records.
Kagan issued an order effectively putting the litigation on hold and preventing enforcement of the subpoena pending a further order by her or the full court. Kagan, a member of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 liberal minority, is the justice designated to handle emergency appeals from a group of states including Arizona. Kagan’s order directs the committee to respond to Ward’s request by Friday.
(Reporting by Will Dunham)