Four sources told CBS News that more than 30 people with ties to former President Donald Trump and suspected of influencing the outcome of the 2020 election have received subpoenas from federal grand juries.
The subpoenas, many of which were issued last week, signal the Justice Department’s January 6 June 2021 Capitol Riot and other purported attempts to block the transfer of power to then-President-elect Joe Biden. A source familiar with the case said the investigation was huge.
The Justice Department is looking at how to raise money and use it in an alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election; efforts to submit fake “alternative” electors to Congress from states Trump lost; and Ellipse near the White House on Jan. 1 “Stop the Stealing” rally. 6. Just before the Congressional riots.
DOJ’s investigation into potential Presidential and Confidential Records Mishandling Found at Trump’s Florida estate is another story.
Those receiving the subpoenas include employees and contractors of the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee — including poll watchers, according to two sources familiar with the subpoenas. The identities of those who were subpoenaed ranged from household names to mostly unknown low-level field workers, sources said.
CBS News confirms close Trump aide Will Russell receives subpoena via email last week. The New York Times reported last week that former top White House aides Stephen Miller and Brian Jack also received subpoenas.
Lawyers for Jack and Russell did not respond to requests for comment. Miller declined to comment through an intermediary.
FBI agents served several subpoenas in the early hours of last Wednesday and Thursday, the sources said, adding that on at least two occasions, agents executed search warrants that allowed them to seize individuals’ cell phones.
Virginia attorney David A. Warrington, who represents about a dozen clients who received subpoenas, said the FBI was “very professional” in serving his clients. He added that his clients received subpoenas that were nearly identical, describing them as lengthy documents divided into parts and subsections. They cover issues related to the Dec. 14 and Jan. 6 “alternative” voter and election certification deadlines, fundraising to Save America’s PAC, and the Jan. 6 “Stop the Stealing” rally — but not subsequent riots.
Warrington said the subpoenas require individuals to provide documents and any communications between them and Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Bernie Crick. The subpoena also asks recipients to provide any communication with dozens of individuals who appeared on the fake voter rolls.
Warrington said at least some subpoenas force recipients to appear before a grand jury in Washington, D.C. District Court on Sept. 23.
Last week, mother and daughters Amy and Kelly Kramer received subpoenas, according to Warrington. They are listed as “hosts” on the National Park Service permit for the Ellipse Rally on January 6, 2021.
Both are part of America’s Women First, which tells visitors on its website “Help us fight back against the Jan. 6 committee and the Justice Department!” Warrington said the Kramer family and the Capitol after the rally took place The riots are irrelevant.