U.S. law firm Brownstein Hyatt quits RNC's Jan. 6 subpoena lawsuit - Reuters.com
Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during clashes with police, during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
- Firm partner takes leave from firm to continue representing RNC
- Lawsuit seeks to block House subpoena to Salesforce seeking RNC records
- D.C. federal court hearing on Friday
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(Reuters) - The U.S. lobbying heavyweight Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck on Tuesday withdrew from representing the Republican National Committee in a closely watched legal challenge against Salesforce.com Inc and the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Two partners at the firm had represented the RNC in Washington, D.C., federal court contesting a subpoena that the House Select Committee issued to Salesforce for RNC information. Salesforce, also a defendant, is a business software and data analytics company that the RNC uses to host and organize campaign and donor information.
One of the lawyers, Christopher Murray, on Tuesday jumped to Arizona-based Statecraft PLLC and will continue to represent the RNC there. An automated reply email from his Brownstein account said he was on a leave from the firm, where he has worked for more than seven years. Murray's online biography at Brownstein was no longer functioning on Tuesday evening.
The other partner, Julian Ellis Jr, withdrew from defending the organization but has remained affiliated with Brownstein.
It was unclear what prompted Brownstein to back out of the case about three weeks after it was filed.
Brownstein's managing partners in Denver, where Murray was based, and in Washington, did not return messages seeking comment. Statecraft managing partner Kory Langhofer, a former counsel to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential run, did not return a message seeking comment.
Brownstein had lobbied in 2020 and last year for San Francisco-based Salesforce. But the law firm ended the work in October, according to U.S. lobbying records.
Brownstein is one of Washington, D.C.'s perennial leaders for federal lobbying revenue. The firm reported more than $55.6 million for federal influence work last year, according to the nonprofit Open Secrets.
A lawyer for Salesforce on Wednesday declined to comment, and a representative from the company did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Murray did not respond to messages to his Statecraft and Brownstein email accounts, and he did not return a call. A lawyer for the RNC involved in the case also did not return messages seeking comment.
Murray is a Hogan Lovells alum and past president of the Lincoln Club of Colorado, which bills itself as the state's "original Republican club."
The RNC sued the House panel on March 9, claiming its subpoena to Salesforce was a "fishing expedition" that would "chill the RNC and its supporters' First Amendment rights."
A judge is set to take up the dispute at a hearing on Friday.
The House Select Committee, formed in July, has issued dozens of subpoenas and interviewed more than 500 witnesses.
The case is Republican National Committee v. Pelosi, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:22-cv-00659.
For the RNC: Christopher Murray of Statecraft
For the House: Douglas Letter
For Salesforce: Marc Zwillinger of ZwillGen
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source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-law-firm-brownstein-hyatt-quits-rncs-jan-6-subpoena-lawsuit-2022-03-30/
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