Michael Flynn sues Jan. 6 committee in attempt to dismiss subpoenas

On Tuesday, Former national security adviser Michael Flynn filed a lawsuit against the House committee tasked with investigating the Capitol riot that took place on January 6. The suit claims the subpoenas violate his both his rights to free speech and against self-incrimination.

“Without intervention by this Court, General Flynn faces the harm of being irreparably and illegally coerced to produce information and testimony in violation of the law and his constitutional rights,” the lawsuit alleges. It was filed in a federal court in Florida, where Flynn currently resides.

Democratic Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chair, sent a letter to Flynn last month in which he said the committee wanted to question him about a December 2020 meeting he had with former President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. 

The letter claims “participants discussed seizing voting machines, declaring a national emergency, invoking certain national security emergency powers, and continuing to spread the message that the November 2020 election had been tainted by widespread fraud.”

Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general who had served as Trump’s national security adviser, made similar suggestions the day before the meeting in an interview with Newsmax, according to the letter. 

Flynn’s lawyer said that Flynn was not involved with the events on January 6 and accused the committee of overreaching with the subpoenas.

The suit notes that the panel made “a broad set of document requests that pertain to his 1st Amendment activity as a private citizen, including the basis of his political beliefs, what he communicated about his political beliefs, and to whom he communicated those political beliefs.”

It goes on to say that the committee is violating his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by requesting documents regarding a nonprofit organization founded by Sidney Powell, former Trump lawyer, where Flynn was briefly the director.