Subpoena

The congressional committee investigating the January 6 riot in Washington DC has issued subpoenas for the phone, email and text messages from the phone companies. The people they are investigating have not been charged with any crime. This sets a dangerous precedent. If congress subpoenas personal records from you, you have the right to hire an attorney and challenge the subpoena but the phone company is not going to go to that expense to protect your records. No probable cause is required to issue a subpoena. The government can issue a subpoena just to see if a crime might have been committed.