A series of subpoenas in the Justice Department investigation evidently under the purview of Special Counsel Jack Smith were newly reported in recent days, as prosecutors’ seemingly very wide-reaching efforts to uncover the full scope of the political plot after the last presidential election to keep Trump in power expand.
Shortly before Smith took over, Rudy Giuliani received a subpoena for records related to payments he may have received in relation to work he did around the 2020 election for Trump, but the subpoenas don’t end there. According to CNN, recent weeks have also seen subpoenas for “other witnesses who are close to Trump” that seek information related to payments made by the Trump group known as the Save America PAC — for which Trump’s campaign organization raised funds after the 2020 presidential race, directly connecting the two and showcasing the PAC’s involvement in Donald’s broader political ambitions. Those additional subpoenas beyond the demands to Giuliani were dispatched in late December, per CNN, which also reports that sources say the process of seeking to collect info is ongoing.
Smith also subpoenaed local leadership in Antrim County, a Michigan jurisdiction where initial errors in reporting the 2020 results were used as later justification for conspiracy theories. A tech company boosted by Sidney Powell called SullivanStrickler was also later involved in examining data from the county’s election systems under court supervision.
Also receiving subpoenas in the investigative efforts in which Smith is now involved were other officials in Michigan, including in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, and at the state level. Elsewhere in the country, officials in high-profile locales including Nevada’s Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, and Georgia, both of which were contested after the last presidential election, also already received subpoenas, and a series of officials also already provided materials covered by the demands. The subpoenas largely sought communications with figures like Trump, staff on his campaign, and Giuliani.
The investigation into finances around Trump’s post-election operation could connect to concerns about the false pretenses under which those seeking donations were working. The notions that the election was stolen, there was even an opportunity to reasonably contest the outcome in court, and that the money — at least in general — would be directly supporting court efforts to challenge the election outcome were all proven false.
CNN already reported late last year that “investigators may be looking into whether people associated with the Save America PAC defrauded people out of money using claims they knew to be false” about the 2020 election. The House committee that investigated the Capitol riot previously spotlighted some of this, including the related observation that even Trump himself was repeatedly made aware of the evidence documenting the legitimacy of Biden’s win, implicating him in knowingly contravening reality — and the relevant legal standards. Smith was specifically provided the authority to bring criminal charges in the course of his criminal investigations, which also include the Justice Department probe into classified documents found in Trump’s possession after he left office.
