Mystery man revealed: Former President Donald Trump’s social media manager Dan Scavino secretly sued Verizon last month to block the Jan. 6 select committee from accessing his phone records, but his lawyers just revealed his identity Friday.
Scavino had originally tried to file the suit anonymously in federal court in Washington, D.C., but Judge Beryl Howell rejected his attempt to sue anonymously on Jan. 19, writing Scavino had “failed to demonstrate a need for secrecy or identify consequences likely to befall” him for proceeding in the suit by using his own name.
Why he's suing: The Capitol riot panel had subpoenaed the phone records of Trump social media chief Dan Scavino in December, prompting him to sue Verizon. The initial subpoena for Scavino’s testimony and documents came in September, part of the select committee’s first batch sent to senior Trump aides, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Pushing back: Scavino, through his attorney Stan Brand, sought to fight the subpoena by arguing the select panel had no “valid legislative purpose” to seek his information and thus their effort to force Verizon to cooperate was unenforceable. His argument echoes those made by others fighting subpoenas like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and pro-Trump commentator and radio host Sebastian Gorka. More than a dozen top Trump allies are suing the panel, including former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, attorney John Eastman and Meadows.
This week the Supreme Court upheld the panel's legislative purpose, ruling against Trump as he tried to shield his White House records from investigators' review. That could scramble the calculus in many of these other lawsuits.
A committee spokesperson declined to comment. Verizon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.