| NEWS | Keeping Secrets Kelli Ward doesn’t want to give up her phone records. BY KATYA SCHWENK T he congressional committee in- vestigating the January 6 riots subpoenaed Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward’s phone records late last month — but she does not want to turn them over. Ward and her husband, Michael, filed a lawsuit in federal court last week seeking to block the committee’s demand to pro- duce the records. The couple’s attorney argues that Congress’s request was too broad. Beyond that, given their day jobs as doctors, they might inadvertently violate patient confi- dentiality rules if the phone records are shared because they conducted telehealth sessions. Work phone logs for public officials are already public records. Ordinarily, an any- one can access them without a court order. The phone call logs, text messages, and emails that elected or appointed public of- ficials send and receive are public records because they are transmitted on devices taxpayers paid for. Ward’s phone data are not a public record, because her political involvement is confined to a role with the Arizona Republican Party. It is not a public agency and she is not a public official. The United States House Select Com- mittee on the January 6 attack of the U.S. Capitol was formed in July to investigate the riots. More broadly, the committee de- cided to investigate any efforts or plots to overturn the results of the November 2020 presidential election. That’s what led committee investigators to Ward but it is not immediately clear what exactly the panel is seeking on her phone. The committee recently turned its at- tention to former President Donald Trump’s so-called “alternate electors,” groups of uncertified electors in swing states who claimed to be submitting votes for Trump, despite a Joe Biden victory. The Wards were both part of Arizona’s slate of fake electors, alongside other prominent Arizona Republicans, including state representative Jake Hoffman, former state legislator Anthony Kern, and Turning Point USA executive Tyler Bowyer. The group delivered a document to Congress in December 2020 which claimed to cast Arizona’s vote for Trump instead of Biden. The January 6 committee subpoenaed 8 T-Mobile, the Wards’ wireless provider, seeking detailed phone records spanning from November 1, 2020, through January 31, 2021. And T-Mobile was ready to comply until the Wards filed suit. Zee Peralta Ward, like other Trump allies who are fighting subpoenas for phone records, ar- gues in the lawsuit that the subpoena vio- lates her First Amendment rights. Providing detailed call logs of her activi- ties as chairwoman, Ward argues, would provide Congress “with the means to chill the First Amendment associational rights not just of the plaintiffs but of the entire Republican Party in Arizona.” She also claims that given that she and her husband are practicing doctors, the re- lease of their phone records would violate The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The law, called HIPAA, protects the privacy of patients by barring doctors from sharing their medical infor- mation with unauthorized third parties. Still, health information records could hypothetically be redacted before they were made public. Providers may release records if subpoenaed, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also, it is common for a judge to review sensitive records under seal before deciding which, if any, may be released to the public. Outside of politics, Kelli Ward is a weight-loss doctor in Lake Havasu City; her husband is an emergency physician. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, Ward testified that she had seen more than 150 patients during the relevant time span. The Wards’ attorney, Alexander Kolodin, with the Phoenix-based Davillier Law Group, did not return multiple inqui- ries from Phoenix New Times last week. Nor did he reply to our email. But he did tell conservative Breitbart News, “Had we not been at home, T-Mobile Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward. would have released the records without any chance of intervention from us. ... I re- fuse to lie down and have my constitutional rights trampled by a rogue committee.” An unidentified source told Politico that the Arizona Republican Party is likely to cover the Wards’ legal fees in the dispute. Ward’s attorneys argue in the complaint that there is not a clear link yet established between Ward and the events of January 6. But in the weeks after the 2020 presi- dential election, the Arizona Republican Party sent out tweets suggesting that their followers give their lives for the fight against election fraud, with one since- deleted tweet reading “die for something.” Ward’s tenure as chairwoman of Arizona’s Republican party has been polar- izing even within her own party. After she was elected, some GOP lawmakers called for an audit of the party’s own vote. Some more moderate Arizona Republicans said that her victory in her bid for internal reelection as state chair- person, just days after Biden’s inaugura- tion, was a sign of Trump’s continuing influence in the party. Ward has has fought to preserve the Arizona GOP’s focus on voter fraud claims, calling for Maricopa County election offi- cials to be jailed and spearheading a pres- sure campaign against the county on behalf of Trump, as one Arizona Republic investi- gation found. Committee investigators are hoping the extent of that influence may be revealed by her phone records. Culture Clash Gun violence at a party bar has Roosevelt Row worried. BY ELIAS WEISS B ar patrons on a recent Saturday night heard gunshots minutes after the last call for alcohol inside a party club on artsy Roosevelt Row. The incident on January 2 was the third time guns were drawn and weapons were fired in the vicinity of a fledgling Mexican food restaurant and bar, The Golden Margarita. The establishment sits near the corner of East Roosevelt and Third Streets. It operates as a Mexican restaurant during the day and transforms into a club after sunset. Visitors dole out $1,000 for the best table reservation next to the DJ stage, not counting the cost of bottle service of alco- holic beverages. The cavernous bar is on the ground floor of the Roosevelt Row Apart- ment Homes. It hosts live rappers, television wrestling match nights, and features “bottle girls” donning sultry attire. Gun violence has scared some residents who consider the neighborhood’s main ap- peal to be luxury apartments but also walk- able living. Neighbors complained they don’t feel safe on the streets at night if gunshots are going to become the norm. Critics claim that the party bar does not fit in a commu- nity known for chic wine and cocktail bars such as Coup De Grace and The Lost Leaf. Roosevelt Row was once home to rail- road workers in Phoenix and was long dere- lict in places, but now community churches sit across the street from bustling clubs. Real estate developers took the lead to ren- ovate, retrofit, and sometimes tear down the old buildings. As a result, the neighbor- hood has continued to gentrify, and the cost to live there has been increasing every year. Renting a studio apartment inside the Roosevelt Row Apartment Homes costs $1,750 each month. For a three-bedroom apartment, it will set renters back $3,155 each month. Roosevelt Row markets itself as a sophis- ticated arts district with its own commuter light rail station, art galleries, bars, restau- rants, and bungalows. The monthly arts fair First Friday draws hundreds of revelers. But a representative for Golden Margar- ita claims that Roosevelt Row is changing as a community once again and the establish- ment fits in the newest aesthetic drawing in people who want to eat, drink and party — not just appreciate art. “You have an old Roosevelt Row and a new Roosevelt Row trying to figure out how to blend and grow together,” said Craig Miller, a partner at Arizona Liquor >> p 10 FEB 10TH– FEB 16TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
