“If these companies comply with the Democrat order to turn over private information, they are in violation of federal law and subject to losing their ability to operate in the United States,” the California Republican said in a statement he posted to Twitter. “If companies still choose to violate federal law, a Republican majority will not forget and will stand with Americans to hold them fully accountable under the law.”

McCarthy’s office would not provide CNN with a specific federal statute that a company would be in violation of if it complied with a duly empaneled congressional committee.

The select committee took its first step in the investigatory process on Monday, requesting that more than 30 social media and telecommunication companies preserve the phone records of certain lawmakers and members of former President Donald Trump’s orbit who played some role in the “Stop the Steal” rally that served as the prelude to the Capitol insurrection.