Justice Department subpoenas four states for Trump communications connected to Jan 6 attack

Newly appointed special counsel issues first known Justice Department subpoenas in Capitol riot investigation, zeroing in on states central to ex-president’s failed attempt to overturn 2020 results

A recently appointed special counsel at the US Department of Justice has issued subpoenas for documents in four states that were central to former president Donald Trump’s attempt to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election

Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed officials in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin for communications with the former president, his campaign and others within his circle.

The requests, first reported by The Washington Post, are among the first known subpoenas issued by Mr Smith, who was named by US Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead the agency’s investigations into the 6 January, 2021 attack on the US Capitol as well as the federal probe into the former president’s mishandling of White House documents at his Florida estate.

Subpoenas seek communications between elections officials and members of Trump’s campaign and its legal team from June 2020 through 20 January 2021, one day after Mr Trump left office.

Requests were issued to clerks and elections officials in Maricopa County, Arizona; Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; Wayne County, Michigan; and Milwaukee and Dane counties in Wisconsin.

The requests appear to be largely identical, requesting “any and all communications in any form to, from, or involving” the Trump campaign “or any employee or agent of, or attorney for, the Trump Campaign, or any records or documents that record, summarize, transcribe, annotate, or reflect any such communications.”

A list of more than a dozen campaign-affiliated figures named in the documents includes former Trump attorneys Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and John Eastman, the architect of a dubious plan to overturn election results in states that Joe Biden had won.

The revelation of the subpoenas comes as a parallel investigation from the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol is preparing to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

Committee chair Bennie Thompson did not indicate which witnesses or individuals central to the probe will be referred for criminal prosecution. The panel has not finalise a list of referrals.

Congressman Thompson also said the committee will discuss whether any of the witnesses perjured themselves before the committee.

The committee’s mandate is due to expire as a new Congress convenes at the start of the new year. In its final hearing, the committee subpoenaed the former president.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has indicated that his incoming Republican majority will not only end the House select committe’s inquiry but likely attempt to lead its own investigation into the panel’s work and discredit its bombshell revelations.