The House committee investigating the Capitol riot has newly subpoenaed six additional allies of former President Donald Trump, all of whom were in some way connected to the multi-state plot to essentially falsify electoral votes for Trump from states Biden won. Arguments presented in favor of these falsified electoral votes include the notion that they provided some sort of protection for the viability of legal challenges to the election outcome, but by the time that legitimate members of the electoral college cast their votes, there was no real-world indication that the election outcome could be honestly changed.
The Select Committee demands info on efforts to send false "alternate electors" and otherwise interfere with election certification.
The Select Committee issued 6 subpoenas:
•Michael A. Roman
•Gary Michael Brown
•Douglas V. Mastriano
•Laura Cox
•Mark W. Finchem
•Kelli Ward— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) February 15, 2022
The six individuals who are newly facing subpoenas from the riot committee include ex-Trump campaign officials Michael A. Roman and Gary Michael Brown, Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R), former Michigan state Rep. Laura Cox (R), Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem (R), and Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward. The involvement of these individuals in the fake electoral vote scheme varies; Roman and Brown, for instance, ‘reportedly participated in efforts to promote allegations of fraud in the November 2020 election and encourage state legislators to appoint false “alternate” slates of electors,’ according to a press release from the riot investigation committee. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chair of the riot panel, commented as follows:
‘The Select Committee is seeking information about efforts to send false slates of electors to Washington and change the outcome of the 2020 election. We’re seeking records and testimony from former campaign officials and other individuals in various states who we believe have relevant information about the planning and implementation of those plans. The Select Committee has heard from more than 550 witnesses, and we expect these six individuals to cooperate as well as we work to tell the American people the full story about the violence of January 6th and its causes.’
Breaking: The Jan. 6 Committee has issued subpoenas to six individuals who had knowledge of or participated in efforts to send false "alternate electors" for Trump in states carried by President Biden. The Committee is seeking records and testimony from these six individuals.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 15, 2022
Among other examples, Mastriano was apparently involved in the effort to assemble faked electoral votes on Trump’s behalf in Pennsylvania. The general form of the scheme was that Republicans met in states where Biden won and signed off on claims that they, in fact, were the legitimate electoral college members from their home states. Documentation of these false claims was sent to federal authorities, and at the federal level, right-wing lawyer John Eastman helped promote a plan for blocking Biden’s victory that involved then-VP Mike Pence stopping the certification of Biden’s wins in certain states over the supposed competing slates of electors, although these Trump votes had no legally recognized foundation. The riot panel has already subpoenaed 14 other people tied to the fake electoral vote scheme, including two from each of the seven states where an arm of it unfolded. Elsewhere, federal investigators are looking into the issue, with referrals having been sent to Justice Department prosecutors from state officials in Michigan and New Mexico, two of the affected states.
BREAKING: The Jan. 6 committee is subpoenaing PA's Doug MASTRIANO and AZ's Mark FINCHEM for their efforts to aid Trump's attempt to subvert the 2020 election.
Other subpoenas to:
-Kelli Ward
-Michael Roman
-Gary Michael Brown
-Laura CoxStory TK w/ @nicholaswu12 @woodruffbets
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 15, 2022
