WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The congressional committee probing the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on Friday asked major social media companies including Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google to turn over records of messages related to the assault by Donald Trump’s supporters.
The House of Representatives Select Committee asked for records connected to the violence and the days leading up to it, including the spread of misinformation and efforts to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s election.
The panel on Wednesday made its first document request from government agencies, including communications involving some of Trump’s closest advisers and family and extensive requests for material from the government agencies including the Pentagon, Justice Department, FBI and intelligence agencies.
The committee’s Democratic chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson, gave the agencies two weeks – until Sept. 10 – to produce the materials. The committee expects to make additional requests as the investigation moves forward.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Scott Malone; Editing by Chris Reese and Howard Goller)
