On Wednesday, the Justice Department served subpoenas for many Trump supporters who were involved in the investigation. fake elector schemeIn a sign that its probes are expanding.
Federal agents served subpoenas on Georgia GOP Chairman David ShaferAccording to, he was a Trump voter. The Washington Post. Other subpoenas were served at the homes of Brad Carver, a Georgia lawyer involved in the fake elector scheme, and Thomas Lane, who worked on the Trump campaign’s efforts in Arizona and New Mexico, FBI officials told the outlet. Trump supporters involved in the Michigan fake elector scheme also received subpoenas, though it’s unclear if they were related to the federal investigation or a separate state probe. The New York Times reportedIn the federal probe, Shawn Flynn was subpoenaed by the FBI.
According to local news outlets, FBI agents also served a warrant at the Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald’s home and seized his phone in the fake elector probe. KLAS. James DeGraffenreid was the state GOP secretary. However, FBI agents couldn’t track him down on Wednesday.
Shafer, who is also met with Fulton County prosecutors investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss in the state, played a central role in organizing the slate of fake electors in Georgia and coordinated his efforts with the Trump campaign, according to CNN. The network also reported that Carver signed up as a fake elector and the FBI sought his phone contents. This was as it investigated communications from state Republicans in private Signal chats.
The DOJ has previously served subpoenas. 15 other individualsThe fake elector scheme involved. Former President Donald Trump and his allies unsuccessfully plotted to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College votes in contested states by offering up so-called alternate slates of electors in hopes of sending the election to the House, where a majority of Republican-majority state delegations could ostensibly re-elect Trump. The National Archives alerted investigatorsAfter flagging forged documents that awarded Trump Electoral College votes to states he lost, he agreed to the scheme.
“From Virginia to Nevada today, several coordinated subpoenas and search warrants served and executed by the FBI and DOJ surrounding fake elector scheme. Sure doesn’t feel like a ‘nothingburger,’” tweeted former FBI investigator Peter Strzok.
“Turns out a massive conspiracy to produce false documents to Congress to overturn an election is maybe a bad idea?” quippedAmanda Carpenter, columnist and former adviser of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas),
According to the FBI, Lane was served with a subpoena by Lane, Virginia. Lane worked for the Republican National Committee following his departure from the Trump campaign. Post.A 2020 video showed him handing out documents to potential Trump electors at an Arizona GOP gathering, more than a year after the election.
Tuesday’s Jan. 6-committee linked Trump directly to the fake electoral scheme, playing a clip of RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s deposition in which she recalled how Trump put her on the phone with attorney John Eastman “to talk about the importance of the RNC helping the campaign gather these contingent electors in case any of the legal challenges that were ongoing changed the result of any of the states.”
The committee also presented a message exchange showing that a top aide to Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., sought to hand fake elector information to then-Vice President Mike Pence during the Jan. 6 certification process but Pence’s aides demurred.
The DOJ has previously interviewed other potential Trump electors. According to the investigation, investigators seem to be interested in communications between about a dozen Trump ally. PostRudy Giuliani (including Jenna Ellis and Eastman), Bernard Kerik, Jenna Ellis, and Jenna Kerik.
Patrick Gartland (would-be Trump voter) was appointed to the Cobb County Board of Elections in Georgia. Post, “They wanted to know if I had talked to Giuliani.”
