Republican operatives who have ties to a scheme to put forward fake Trump electors amid the then-President’s refusal to concede last year are reportedly set to turn over information to the Justice Department as soon as this week, according to CNN.
In recent weeks, the DOJ has issued numerous subpoenas seeking information in all seven battleground states where the Trump campaign assembled the fake electors as part of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results. Sources familiar with the investigation told CNN that some of the subpoenas to Republicans connected to the unsuccessful scheme have been asked to provide documents by Friday.
The DOJ’s subpoenas indicates an expansion of its sweeping investigation into Jan. 6 beyond the Capitol insurrectionists. It also comes as special grand jury in Georgia this week subpoenaed several advisors and members of Trump’s legal team who played a role in his effort to subvert the 2020 election results: Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis, and Cleta Mitchell. Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was also subpoenaed by the grand jury.
The subpoenas by the grand jury signal interest in testimony from Trump’s legal team partly due to its alleged involvement in the creation of a fake slate of electors for the battleground state. Additionally, the grand jury appears to be focusing on the origins of various baseless claims of election fraud that members of Trump’s legal team have boosted.
Additionally, the DOJ’s subpoenas come as the Jan. 6 Select Committee airs its public hearings that have revealed its findings related to Trump’s “seven-part plan” to subvert the election results, which led to the deadly Capitol insurrection last year. Among the plans to overturn the results was the fake electors scheme and a pressure campaign for then-Vice President Mike Pence to halt the counting of electoral votes, according to the committee. The panel is expected to focus on the assembly of the violent mob of Trump supporters on Jan. 6 in its next public hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
In late June, the DOJ subpoenaed several individuals connected to the fake Trump electors scheme, which includes GOP officials in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
According to CNN, the documents to be turned over under subpoenas are expected to include communications between fake electors and Trump campaign officials who assisted in organizing the effort.
