Getty
- Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, sued the Jan. 6 panel Tuesday.
- A judge denied his request on Wednesday, saying he did not follow procedural requirements.
- Some Trump allies have been held in contempt of Congress for not cooperating with the committee.
Michael Flynn’s request to block the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack from accessing his phone records and requiring his testimony was shut down on Wednesday.
Flynn, who served as national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking a temporary restraining order that would prevent the committee from seizing his phone records or subpoenaing him for testimony.
He accused the committee of acting without legal authority and in violation of the Constitution, according to the complaint viewed by Insider.
“Like many Americans in late 2020, and to this day, General Flynn has sincerely held concerns about the integrity of the 2020 elections. It is not a crime to hold such beliefs, regardless of whether they are correct or mistaken,” the complaint said.
The Jan. 6 committee is interested in information about a meeting Flynn attended at the White House on Dec. 18, 2020, during which election conspiracy theories were shared and ideas including seizing voting machines were floated, The New York Times reported.
US District Judge Mary Scriven, in Tampa, Florida, denied Flynn’s request on Wednesday, saying he did not meet the procedural requirements, according to the order viewed by Insider. She said he could refile later if the requirements were met.
She noted Flynn filed the complaint four weeks after the committee’s initial deadline for him to provide the documents they requested, but that it is unclear if the committee had set a new deadline. She also said the committee postponed his deposition to a “date to be determined.”
Due to those reasons, among others, she said “there is no basis to conclude that Flynn will face immediate and irreparable harm,” which was needed to grant the emergency order Flynn was seeking.
Flynn’s lawsuit came as other Trump allies have refused or stopped cooperating with the committee as it investigates the Capitol riot. Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon were both held in contempt of Congress for not cooperating.
Read the original article on Business Insider 
