Lawyers who focus on telecom and tech companies and government policies that affect them say McCarthy is making empty threats in regards to federal law.

“There is no legal basis for his threats whatsoever. These companies share this kind of information with the government after being subpoenaed all the time,” said Harold Feld, a tech policy expert and a lawyer at consumer group Public Knowledge.

“It’s pretty ugly what McCarthy is doing. You shouldn’t be threatening companies with government payback and blackmail. To say we will punish you if you comply with the investigation is not rule of law — that’s thug life,” Feld said.

He added that if it was illegal for companies to comply with government information requests, then any entity cooperating with Congress or law enforcement regarding investigations into child molesters or terrorists would be breaking the law as well.