Salesforce to provide RNC records to Jan. 6 panel unless court steps in
Updated: 03/15/2022 11:46 PM EDT
Salesforce, a vendor that holds sensitive financial data and records of the Republican National Committee, has informed party leaders that it will begin producing documents to the Jan. 6 select committee imminently unless a court intervenes.
The RNC revealed the development in a court filing Tuesday evening urging U.S. District Court Judge Tim Kelly to immediately step in to prevent documents from reaching the select panel. In an emergency motion seeking an injunction to block the production of documents, the RNC indicated Salesforce would only agree to delay providing the records while such an emergency motion was pending.
The party sued the select committee last week, revealing that the panel had subpoenaed Salesforce in February and contending that the scope of the subpoena was so broad that it amounted to an illegitimate incursion on political rivals. The select committee dismissed that notion, emphasizing that it is pursuing evidence that the RNC’s post-election email deluge in 2020 — often coordinated with the Trump campaign —helped spur distrust in the results and contributed to the atmosphere that preceded the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The RNC indicated in its new filing that Salesforce had initially planned to withhold documents from the select committee while the lawsuit was pending. But the company changed course.
“Late in the afternoon on March 10, 2022, Salesforce’s counsel informed the RNC that after discussions with staff for the Select Committee … Salesforce indicated that it would not be able to withhold production during the pendency of this matter,” RNC attorneys wrote.
“Salesforce’s counsel represented to the RNC that absent a pending motion for emergency relief from this court, Salesforce would begin to produce documents to the Select Committee in compliance with the Salesforce Subpoena on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.”
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