RNC Sues Salesforce to Block Email Vendor From Providing Sensitive Member Data to Jan. 6 Panel

Last week, the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and members of the House’s Jan. 6 panel over a subpoena issued to Salesforce Inc., demanding records of RNC fundraising efforts. The committee claimed their action was required to block the panel from “unlawfully seizing confidential information."

Salesforce, a major data and communications vendor for the RNC, informed GOP committee leaders that, unless a court intervenes by Wednesday, it will begin turning over relevant documents to the US House Select Committee probing the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, according to a Tuesday evening court filing by the RNC.

Salesforce’s deposition date with the January 6 panel is now slated for Wednesday, March 23, one week after the deadline for production to the Select Committee.

As a result, the RNC has amended its initial lawsuit, and has since named Salesforce a defendant “to ensure effective relief.”

“Although the RNC has named Salesforce as a defendant in this action, the RNC does not believe that Salesforce has breached any contractual or other duty to the RNC,” read the Tuesday filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The RNC suit claims that the House Select Committee’s subpoena violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the US Constitution, is “staggeringly broad” in scope, and includes “unduly burdensome” requests that refer or relate to GOP committee documents “that have no connection to the attack on January 6.”

The subpoena, issued on February 23, demands the production of sensitive and proprietary data over a period of more than two months, per the filing. Such a release would grant the House Select Committee “unprecedented access” to the internal political strategies of the RNC, as well as private and personal information regarding supporters of the political party.

Without court intervention, Wednesday marks the deadline for Salesforce to disclose RNC data, including whether and how individual RNC supporters responded to emails (as well as the time the electronic mail was opened), reactions to specific political messaging, and details on signed RNC petitions, issue-specific surveys, policy proposals, and fundraising appeals.

Information on RNC supporters’ individual voting habits, coalition involvement, and even preferences on political merchandise will also be included to satisfy the subpoena.

While the RNC argues that the subject matter of the requested materials should be protected via the First and Fourth Amendments of the US Constitution, the court has not granted a motion for emergency relief, and Salesforce has concluded that it must comply with production obligations, despite the company’s counsel initially reserving the right to supplement its objections.

During talks prior to the RNC’s March 9 filing, House Select Committee staffers reportedly informed Salesforce counsel that the initiation of a complaint was insufficient to relieve the data and communications company of its production obligations.

“The Select Committee issued a subpoena to an email fundraising vendor in order to help investigators understand the impact of false, inflammatory messages in the weeks before January 6th, the flow of funds, and whether contributions were actually directed to the purpose indicated,” Tim Mulvey, communications director for the Jan. 6 panel, argued in a same-day response to the RNC’s initial complaint.

“This action has absolutely nothing to do with getting the private information of voters or donors.”

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