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FIRST ON FOX: Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for former President Donald Trump, is fighting a subpoena sent by the House Jan. 6 Committee to JPMorgan Chase for his banking records, arguing in a court filing that he’s being denied due process in the matter after providing hundreds of pages of documents and hours of sworn testimony.
“The Select Committee acts absent any valid legislative power and threatens to violate longstanding principles of separation of powers by performing a law enforcement function absent authority to do so,” a complaint filed by Budowich in the Washington, D.C., federal district court reads.
“Mr. Budowich has not been afforded the opportunity to review the subpoena at issue in order to ascertain the extent or scope of information and records requested; moreover, the Select Committee has dispensed with all procedural rules, failed to accord due process, and neglected to provide formal notice,” it continues.
Budowich, who started his current role as Trump’s spokesman in July, told Fox News Friday that he’s been cooperating with the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation, including by sitting for a deposition on Wednesday and providing a variety of records before then.
That included, Budowich said, bank transactions and text messages related to his role as a consultant for a group that advertised Trump’s Jan. 6 Ellipse rally. His complaint against the committee says he produced “more than 1,700 pages of documents” and gave the committee “roughly four hours of sworn testimony.”
Budowich also previously worked on the Trump campaign but left that job in November, and he was an adviser to Donald Trump Jr.
Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for former President Donald Trump, is one of many individuals whose records are being subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 Committee. (Twitter)
The Jan. 6 committee first sent the subpoena to JPMorgan Chase on Nov. 23. But the bank, which according to documents reviewed by Fox News is represented in the matter by former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch, just Tuesday sent a notice to Budowich’s Sacramento, California home via overnight mail, to be delivered Wednesday, that it is complying with the subpoena.
That was the day Budowich was in Washington, D.C., to testify before the Jan. 6 committee. He said he did not return to his home until Thursday. And when he did, Budowich found the letter contained a Friday deadline for him to file something blocking the release of his records to the committee.
“After complying completely with the Committee, including sitting for a four-hour deposition on December 22nd, I returned home on December 23rd only to find a notice from my banking institution, JPMorgan Chase, that they’d be handing over my banking records to the committee if I did not provide a court-ordered stoppage by December 24th,” Budowich said in a statement.
In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo with the White House in the background, former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington on the Ellipse. Former Trump campaign staffer Taylor Budowich was involved in the planning of the rally. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
The notice from JPMorgan Chase also did not include a copy of the subpoena or any details about what documents the subpoena is asking for.
“To add to the absurdity, neither the committee nor JPMorgan Chase will provide me with a copy of the actual contents of the subpoena,” Budowich said.
Budowich said the bank would only show him a cover of the subpoena, which did not include any details about the scope of the document.
That appears to be a departure from the practice that telecommunications companies getting subpoenas from the Jan. 6 committee are following with their notices. Fox News reported earlier this month that a subpoena AT&T sent to a customer being investigated by the Jan. 6 committee included a full copy of a subpoena sent to it by the committee.
By providing the subpoena to its customers, AT&T enabled them to see what information the committee was seeking.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“For me, this complaint being filed in federal court is not about politics or partisanship,” Budowich said. “Government should not be a weapon that’s freely used against political opponents and private citizens — but it seems like this Democrat-led Congress is intent on codifying that precedent.”
“Democracy is under attack. However, not by the people who illegally entered the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, but instead by a committee whose members walk freely in its halls every day,” he said.
In Budowich’s complaint against the committee, his attorneys argue that because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., only appointed nine members to the committee, it is not acting in accordance with its own authorizing resolution, which says the committee “shall” appoint 13 members. The Trump spokesman’s attorneys also say the subpoena lacks “a valid legislative purpose” and that compelling JPMorgan Chase to produce financial records violates the First Amendment.
Budowich is also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the bank from giving his information to the committee.
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The Jan. 6 committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News. JPMorgan Chase declined to comment.
Republicans argue the committee is more of a political witch hunt than a serious investigation, particularly after Pelosi refused to seat picks from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on the committee.
But Democrats say the committee is necessary to ensure an attack like the one on Jan. 6 — during which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and menaced lawmakers after Trump spent months falsely claiming that the presidential election was stolen — never happens again. They created the committee after Republicans blocked a bill for an independent commission on the matter.