Can Eric Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle's Phone Records Help In Jan. 6 Investigation?

Jan. 6 committee has reportedly subpoenaed and obtained phone records of Eric Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to former US President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.

It appears to be the first time the committee that is investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, has issued a subpoena that has targeted Trump's family members, reported CNN. This marks an important escalation of the investigation into the role of the former President, who alleged election fraud, in last year's insurrection. The committee is also battling Trump in court over access to documents from his days in the White House.

Sources said that the new phone records that the committee has obtained are part of a fresh round of call detail records subpoenaed from different communication firms. These records show outgoing and incoming calls, including the time, date, and duration of calls. The information obtained from these records can be a critical investigative tool for the committee in finding out who was communicating before, during and after the attack.

Eric, one of the sons of the former President, and Guilfoyle played prominent roles in Trump's "Stop the Steal" efforts. Both spoke at the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse that took place right before the riot.

On Tuesday, the committee issued subpoenas to Rudy Giuliani as well as three other allies of Trump, according to NBC News. The committee said that Giuliani, Boris Epshteyn, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis "publicly promoted unsupported claims about the 2020 election and participated in attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of election results."

Committee Chair Bennie Thompson said in a statement that the four people pushed efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, advanced unsupported theories about election fraud or were in direct contact with Trump about attempts to "stop the counting of electoral votes."

Robert Costello, Giuliani's lawyer told CNN that the committee subpoenaing his client amounts to "political theater." He indicated that Giuliani doesn't plan to give any information because he has claims of attorney-client privilege and executive privilege.

Epshteyn issued a statement regarding the step taken by the panel saying that he was not surprised by the subpoena, but called the committee "illegitimate."