Michael Flynn sues Jan 6 committee and accuses ‘partisan harassment’

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Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, is suing the congressional committee tasked with investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.

As Reuters reports, Mr Flynn’s decision to file the lawsuit on Tuesday is seemingly fuelled by his desire to block the committee from obtaining key phone records in the lead-up to the Capitol riot.

In the lawsuit, the 62-year-old retired general alleges that a subpoena issued to him by the House of Representatives’ Jan 6 Select Committee was too broad in scope, given that it punishes him for what he considers constitutionally protected speech.

He adds that it “has no authority to conduct business because it is not a duly constituted Select Committee.”

The complaint also accused the panel of “partisan harassment”.

A subpoena was first issued to Mr Flynn, who briefly served as Mr Trump’s national security adviser, last month, seeking testimony and documents.

It is claimed that a so-called “command centre” was set up at Washington DC’s Willard hotel, in order to streamline efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory in November of last year.

In the wake of his defeat, Mr Trump falsely claimed that election fraud had taken place, which prompted Mr Flynn to call on his former boss to deploy the military – in an effort to overturn the result.

Mr Flynn’s lawsuit is just the latest in a string of litigation aimed at the committee, chiefly carried out by individuals whom the committee have asked for testimony and documents related to the effort to overturn the election.

While an appeals court has already rejected Mr Flynn’s assertion that the select committee wasn't valid, Infowars host Alex Jones may have more luck in this regard.

The right-wing conspiracy theorist filed a similar lawsuit on Monday, citing his right to not testify under the Fifth Amendment. Whether that claim holds up to legal scrutiny remains to be seen, but it's likely that Mr Jones’ lawsuit won’t be the last for the committee to contend with.

Former President Trump has been similarly obstructive in regard to the select committee's investigation, as he sought to block it from obtaining his White House records on the day of the insurrection.

The 75-year-old attempted to invoke a protected legal doctrine titled “executive privilege” in order to not hand over the records, although an appeals court has since rejected that argument.