Appeals court temporarily blocks Jan. 6th committee from accessing RNC fundraising records

A panel for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Jan. 6 select committee from obtaining Republican National Committee (RNC) fundraising records.

The panel granted the RNC a temporary administrative injunction prohibiting third-party vendor Salesforce from turning over email and fundraising data on RNC’s fundraising to the committee.

The committee had subpoenaed Salesforce, the customer relationship management software provider, and the RNC as part of its efforts to determine if the party’s fundraising efforts had any influence in provoking the Capitol riot. The committee seeks to learn who was crafting and sending emails and how they impacted supporters.

Salesforce would have been able to turn over the records as early as Wednesday when a lower court’s injunction was set to expire.

The current injunction will remain in effect until the judges decide the RNC’s emergency motion for a more lasting injunction, the panel said in a brief order. It’s uncertain if, or when, they will grant the RNC a longer-lasting injunction.

“The purpose of this administrative injunction is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,” the panel said Tuesday.

The panel consists of three judges, all three of which were appointed by former President Donald Trump.

The RNC had previously tried and failed to sue Salesforce to prevent the transfer, claiming that its and the Trump campaign’s information was protected by the First Amendment and other grounds. The RNC also sued the select committee in March panel to prevent its subpoena on Salesforce.