Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller sued Wednesday to block the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot from getting hold of his cellphone records, arguing that his parents and siblings could be caught up in the search because he is still on the family phone plan.
In papers filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Miller, 36, contends that the committee's subpoena of T-Mobile for his phone records is "overbroad" and an invasion of his right to privacy.
The subpoena seeks "information related to Mr. Miller's cellular telephone number for the three-month period from November 1, 2020, through January 31, 2021," the filing says.
Miller, the architect of the Trump administration's family separation policy at the southern border, accused the committee of "improperly attempting to obtain information" about "free speech and association activities that are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." Regarding Jan. 6, 2021, the suit says "there are no facts that show that Mr. Miller had any role in what happened there or otherwise engaged in any unlawful efforts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power to the Biden administration."
The suit was filed by Miller and Carron Drive Apartments LP, a business in California that the court filing says subscribes to a T-Mobile family plan account for Miller, his siblings and their parents. Miller has been on the account "for at least the last ten years," the suit says.
"Carron Drive and Mr. Miller have filed this Complaint to obtain this Court’s protection from the Select Committee’s intrusive and unjustified attempt to violate the privacy rights that Mr. Miller and, potentially, the other members of the Miller family have under the Family Plan Account," the filing says.
The suit also alleges that the records sought by the committee would include "those evidencing sensitive, personal communications that Mr. Miller had with medical professionals and family regarding his wife and newborn daughter."
The suit, however, says the committee's subpoena is seeking records that would show whom Miller was communicating with, when and for how long — not the substance of the conversations.
The committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit is one of several that top Trump allies have filed to block the committee from getting phone records.
Others who've sued include former campaign adviser Roger Stone, Trump social media director Dan Scavino, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Unlike many of the other legal challenges, the suit says Miller does "not dispute the legitimacy of the Select Committee's investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the events at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021." Like the others, however, the suit contends that the subpoena for his records isn't “related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress" and that it violates his constitutional rights.
It seeks a judgment declaring the subpoena "unenforceable."
