The House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot sent document preservation requests to phone companies and social media firms on Monday, according to the Washington Post.
The requests were sent to about three dozen companies seeking records from telecom companies, including information on communications from phones used by members of Congress.
The committee also asked Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and Signal to preserve “metadata, subscriber information, technical usage information, and content of communications for the listed individuals.”
It’s unclear which members of Congress were listed in the request.
The committee told the companies to preserve records of individuals who were “involved in organizing, funding, or speaking” Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rallies and individuals who were “potentially involved with discussions of plans to challenge, delay, or interfere” with the electoral certification process.
“The Select Committee is at this point gathering facts, not alleging wrongdoing by any individual,” committee spokesman Tim Mulvey said in a statement.
Social media companies under microscope:
The committee previously sent a document preservation request to Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social media companies requesting “all reviews, studies, reports, data, analyses, and communications” regarding misinformation related to the election.
The committee said it is looking at how the companies policed misinformation and whether their algorithms helped spread false claims.
“The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is examining the facts, circumstances, and causes of the attack and relating to the peaceful transfer of power, in order to identify and evaluate lessons learned and to recommend corrective laws, policies, procedures, rules, or regulations,” Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson told the companies.
Probe grows:
The committee previously sent requests to the National Archives and seven other agencies related to the riot as well as “the former President’s knowledge of the election results and what he communicated to the American people about the election.”
The request includes information on “communications within and among the White House and Executive Branch agencies during the leadup to January 6th and on that day,” as well “attempts to place politically loyal personnel in senior positions across government after the election.”
“Our Constitution provides for a peaceful transfer of power, and this investigation seeks to evaluate threats to that process, identify lessons learned and recommend laws, policies, procedures, rules, or regulations necessary to protect our republic in the future,” Thompson wrote.
