Ariz. GOP Chair Is Again Denied Bid to Quash T-Mobile Jan. 6 Petition
U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa in Phoenix denied the motion of Kelli Ward, chair of the Arizona Republican Party, for an injunction quashing the House Jan. 6 Select Committee’s T-Mobile subpoena for Ward’s phone records as part of its investigation into her efforts to thwart certification of the 2020 election. It was Humetewa's second rejection of Ward's injunction request in less than a month, forcing the Arizona GOP chief's appeal to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in late September.
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Ward, a practicing osteopathic physician, sought the injunction as she pursues her case in the 9th Circuit, arguing that disclosure of her records would breach doctor-patient privilege and would violate her First Amendment “associational rights” by chilling her GOP colleagues from ever communicating with her again.
Humetewa found Ward’s concerns “speculative and dubious,” especially in light of Ward’s book and her YouTube video, “which presumably publicized many of the identities of the political contacts she communicated with” during the run-up to congressional certification of the election, said the judge’s order Friday (docket 3:22-cv-08015). “At the very least, this self-publication does not evidence a true concern for her contacts’ privacy,” said Humetewa. The judge also found that Ward failed to present “a serious legal question” about the merits of her First Amendment claim.
T-Mobile “does not take a position ” on Ward’s motion to quash, the carrier's outside counsel, Tracy Olson with Snell & Wilmer, told Humetewa during oral argument Oct. 4. T-Mobile “has no obligation to assert or act to protect any claims of physician-patient privileges,” said Olson. T-Mobile also “isn’t in a position to evaluate” whether doctor-patient privileges “would or could” be breached “during the normal course of business,” she said.