Jan 6, 2020 Election Interference Probe
Jack Smith’s other investigation is advancing, too.
Recent Updates
- The deputy director of Election Day operations for Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign appeared before a federal grand jury Thursday as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Jan. 6 and efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of presidential power. Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald, a close Trump political ally, as well as Jim DeGraffenreid, the state party’s vice chair, were also seen entering the room where the Jan. 6 grand jury is meeting. Both were among Trump’s fake electors in the wake of his 2020 defeat. The week before that, the federal grand jury subpoenaed far-right media personality Steve Bannon.
- Special counsel Jack Smith has reached agreements with at least two fake GOP electors to provide them limited immunity in exchange for testifying before a grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. the testimony has allowed the office to gain information that other investigations looking into the aftermath of the 2020 race could not get.
One source told the outlet that at least one other witness has also spoken to investigators in the past two weeks in exchange for not facing prosecution.
At least six witnesses testified before the grand jury organized in Washington, D.C., during four days in the past two weeks, many of them centered around the fake electors plan.
- About half a dozen Secret Service agents have testified before the grand jury that will decide whether to indict former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol and efforts to interfere in the peaceful transfer of the presidency, according to two sources familiar with their testimony. Roughly five or six agents have appeared, the sources said, in compliance with subpoenas they received.
Sources told NBC News that about 24 Secret Service agents appeared before the grand jury that considered that case in Washington before the case moved to Florida.
- Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will be interviewed by investigators from special counsel Jack Smith’s office Wednesday in Atlanta, his office confirmed to NBC News. Raffensperger’s interview with the special counsel’s office will be his first with the Justice Department.Rudy Giuliani interviewed by special counsel in Trump election interference probe
The Justice Department's special counsel investigators interviewed Rudy Giuliani recently as part of their probe into alleged efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, a spokesperson for Giuliani confirmed Tuesday.
"The appearance was entirely voluntary and conducted in a professional manner," said the spokesperson, Ted Goodman, who is a political advisor to Giuliani.
A source familiar with the matter said Giuliani was questioned about fundraising and meetings that took place between Nov. 3, 2020, and Jan. 6, 2021, when President-elect Biden's electoral college victory was certified despite a deadly riot at the Capitol.
Investigators were particularly interested in meetings Giuliani attended at the White House, the source said.
Giuliani was asked about his interactions with other attorneys who vocally supported returning Trump to office despite his defeat, according to the source. They included John Eastman, who crafted a legal strategy to reject state electoral votes, Sydney Powell, who claimed widespread voter fraud prevented Trump from winning, and Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official which a congressional committee concluded had crafted a plan to instruct state legislatures to select new electors.
The special counsel did not indicate that Giuliani is a subject of the investigation, and his team does not believe he is, according to the source.Special counsel subpoenas Arizona secretary of state office in Jan. 6 probe
The Arizona Secretary of State’s office has been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.
The secretary of state’s office received two subpoenas, one for the previous administration and another for the current one, the spokesperson said.
Smith previously subpoenaed leading Arizona state lawmakers in the Jan. 6 probe, The Arizona Republic reported. However, he does not appear to have requested information from former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R).
The Washington Post reported Saturday that former President Trump made multiple calls to Ducey after the 2020 election to encourage the Arizona governor to find votes to overturn his narrow loss in the state.
Ducey reportedly told a donor about the calls earlier this year and expressed his surprise that Smith had not contacted him for the Jan. 6 probe.Dozens of witnesses have testified as the Jan. 6-focused grand jury probes Trump
WASHINGTON — Federal grand jurors probing Donald Trump’s attempts to stop the transfer of presidential power after his 2020 election loss have heard testimony from dozens of witnesses in a wide-ranging investigation that has examined the former president’s conduct spanning the time from before Election Day through the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, an NBC News analysis found.
In September 2022, before Smith took over the investigation, the Justice Department issued about 40 subpoenas, including to former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who also worked with Giuliani’s legal team, and Epshteyn, who recently met with the special counsel for two days, ABC News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Epshteyn did not respond to a request for comment on his reported appearance.
After Smith took over in November, his team subpoenaed officials in Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Pennsylvania, asking them for communications with or involving Trump, his campaign and 19 Trump associates, including Eastman, Giuliani, Justin Clark, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis.
Giuliani spoke with members of Smith’s special counsel team in recent weeks, as CNN first reported. Robert Costello, Giuliani’s attorney, did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment, but a spokesman, Ted Goodman, confirmed that Giuliani and Costello had met with Smith’s team on an “entirely voluntary” basis.
Other individuals who have testified before the federal grand jury, received subpoenas, or spoken to investigators about Jan. 6 and efforts to stop the peaceful transfer of power include:
Former White House lawyers Patrick Philbin and Pat Cipollone, who were scheduled to testify in September and were spotted at the courthouse in December. Both men testified before the Jan. 6 committee, saying they had opposed Eastman’s plan to have Pence refuse to certify the election because it was not legal.
Former Trump White House officials Stephen Miller and Dan Scavino, who was seen leaving the courthouse on May 2.
Former Department of Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli, who told NBC News he had testified, and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, according to an ABC News article that cited sources familiar with the matter. A Ratcliffe spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment seeking to confirm Ratcliffe’s appearance before the grand jury.
“Stop the Steal” leader Ali Alexander, whose group organized the rally that preceded the Capitol attack on Jan. 6. Alexander confirmed on social media last June that he’d testified before a federal grand jury.
Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, according to CNN. Gingrich, who suggested in an email cited by the Jan. 6 committee that Trump could encourage Republican-led legislatures to refuse to send electors to certify his loss, did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Steve Bannon, who was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress last year and sentenced to four months in federal prison, received a grand jury subpoena for testimony and documents in late May.
About half a dozen Secret Service agents, who also testified before the federal grand jury, according to two sources familiar with their testimony.
Former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican who testified before the Jan. 6 committee about his refusal to back the fake electors scheme, has spoken with federal prosecutors. The special counsel also subpoenaed the Arizona secretary of state’s office.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom Trump asked to just “find 11,780 votes.” Raffensperger spoke with investigators from Smith’s office on June 28.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justic … -rcna91171Prosecutors Ask Witnesses Whether Trump Acknowledged He Lost 2020 Race
Jared Kushner was questioned before a federal grand jury as prosecutors appeared to be trying to establish if the former president knew his efforts to stay in power were built on a lie.
Federal prosecutors investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election have questioned multiple witnesses in recent weeks — including Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner — about whether Mr. Trump had privately acknowledged in the days after the 2020 election that he had lost, according to four people briefed on the matter.
The line of questioning suggests prosecutors are trying to establish whether Mr. Trump was acting with corrupt intent as he sought to remain in power — essentially that his efforts were knowingly based on a lie — evidence that could substantially bolster any case they might decide to bring against him.
Mr. Kushner testified before a grand jury at the federal courthouse in Washington last month, where he is said to have maintained that it was his impression that Mr. Trump truly believed the election was stolen, according to a person briefed on the matter.
But others in Mr. Trump’s orbit who interacted with him in the weeks after the 2020 election, who have potentially more damaging accounts of Mr. Trump’s behavior, have been questioned by the special counsel’s office recently.
Some aides and allies who interacted with Mr. Trump in the days after the election have previously disclosed that Mr. Trump indicated that he knew he lost the election. In testimony before the House select committee, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, said that in an Oval Office meeting in late November or early December 2020, Mr. Trump acknowledged that he had lost the election.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/us/p … trump.htmlTrump notified he is target in DOJ’s Jan. 6 investigation
Former President Trump said Tuesday morning that he has been alerted he is a target of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation focusing on his efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.
“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an arrest and indictment.”
It had been clear that Trump’s actions would be a central focus of the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation, as Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to review the matter last year to determine “whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power.”
But, as Trump states, receiving a target letter is often a sign someone could soon face charges in a matter where prosecutors have gathered substantial evidence.
It’s unclear what specific charges Trump could face if prosecutors decide to move ahead.
The former president is still under investigation in Georgia over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. The district attorney leading the investigation has signaled charges could be filed in August.
In this case, however, it appears Trump has been given until Thursday to appear before the grand jury in Washington.We all watched January 6 unfold in real time.
Get ready for some serious tapdancing here on HubPages.Michigan attorney general charges 'false electors' over efforts to overturn the 2020 election
Sixteen people forged documents and claimed to be "duly elected and qualified electors" for the state of Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel said.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday that she has filed charges against 16 people who signed paperwork falsely claiming that President Donald Trump had won the 2020 election as part of a scheme to overturn the results.
The 16 people being charged in Michigan allegedly met in the basement of the state's Republican Party headquarters and signed multiple certificates claiming they were “the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,” Nessel said in recorded remarks.
“That was a lie. They weren’t the duly elected and qualified electors, and each of the defendants knew it,” she continued.
Some of the electors attempted to deliver these false documents to the state Senate, but were turned away, she said; the documents were later sent to the U.S. Senate and the National Archives "with the intent that Vice President Pence would overturn the results of the election, using the false electoral slate," Nessel said.
Nessel said the "false electors" are being charged with eight felony counts each, including forgery.
The 16 individuals include Michigan GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock and state Republican National Committeewoman Kathy Berden. Michele Lundgren, who was also charged, previously told local television station WDIV that she thought she was signing an attendance sheet for a meeting.
Soon all the pieces will reveal the hands behind all.Special counsel’s office interviewed officials from all 2020 battleground states Trump and allies targeted
Federal prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith have interviewed officials from all seven battleground states targeted by former President Donald Trump and his allies as they sought to overturn the 2020 election results, CNN has learned.
Smith’s team met with at least one official from the Nevada secretary of state’s office in recent months as part of the ongoing criminal probe, according to a source familiar with the matter.
CNN has previously reported that during that same time period, federal prosecutors also interviewed officials from the other six states that were a focal point of Trump’s bid to upend Joe Biden’s legitimate electoral victory: Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Mexico.Special counsel's target letter to Trump in 2020 election probe cites three federal statutes
WASHINGTON — The letter that former President Donald Trump received from special counsel Jack Smith informing him that he is a target of the federal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election mentions three federal statutes related to the deprivation of rights, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., and tampering with a witness.
Those three federal statutes were included in the letter Trump said he received on Sunday night, according to two attorneys with direct knowledge of the document. The context surrounding the statutes cited in the target letter is unclear, and their inclusion in the letter doesn't necessarily mean Trump will be charged with related counts or that an indictment would be limited to only those three statutes.Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp contacted by special counsel in 2020 election probe
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was contacted by special counsel Jack Smith's office as it investigates efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed on Friday.
"I can confirm our office has been contacted by Jack Smith’s office," Andrew Isenhour said in a statement, declining to provide further comment.
Weeks after the 2020 election, Kemp’s office confirmed that Trump called the governor and tried to pressure him to order a special session of the state Legislature to overturn Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia.
Kemp's contact with the special counsel is not the first time he has been sought out for information about Trump and his allies' efforts in Georgia.
In November, the governor testified before a special grand jury investigating whether Trump and his allies engaged in election interference in Georgia. That probe, which launched in 2021, is being overseen by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has indicated that any indictments would likely be handed down in August.Former Trump DOJ official Richard Donoghue has met with the special counsel's office
Former senior Justice Department official Richard Donoghue says he has been interviewed by special counsel Jack Smith’s office, but has not been called to testify before the federal grand jury investigating Jan. 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Donoghue, who confirmed the meeting with Smith's office to NBC News on Monday, served as acting deputy attorney general near the end of the Trump administration. He later testified before the House Jan. 6 committee that investigated the Capitol riot.
In his testimony to the House panel last year, Donoghue said that weeks before the attack on the Capitol, Trump had urged Justice Department officials, including then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, to "just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen."
Donoghue and Rosen told the Jan. 6 committee that they repeatedly rebuffed Trump's efforts, and that he later threatened to replace Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, an ally who had drafted a letter casting doubt over the 2020 election results and urging states to certify slates of fake electors.Former lawmaker says Trump asked him to overturn the 2020 election but so far special counsel hasn't contacted him
Former Rep. Mo Brooks is “mildly surprised” that special counsel Jack Smith’s office has not sought a meeting with him to discuss his accusations that former President Donald Trump urged him to help “rescind” the 2020 election and “violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law.”
“Yeah, if they asked me to, I’d explain what I know about it. Whether it’s relevant or material, I’m not sure,” he said, continuing: “I was shocked [Trump] was so blatant about it — illegal conduct.”
Brooks previously said Trump had made requests to overturn the 2020 election as late as September 2021 — more than seven months after he left the White House.
“Donald Trump wanted me to do four things: advocate rescinding the election, advocate physically removing Joe Biden from the White House, advocate reinstating Donald Trump as president of the United States and advocate a new special election for president of the United States — all of which violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law,” Brooks said. “And after I got done explaining that to him, he withdrew his endorsement and endorsed my opponent."
Brooks had been a staunch ally of Trump’s. On Jan. 6, 2021, Brooks spoke at the rally near the White House before Trump spoke, notably remarking from the stage that it was time for “American patriots” to “start taking down names and kicking ass.”
Trump confirmed parts of Brooks’ accusations in a post to his Truth Social account in August, writing in part: “REMEDY: Declare the rightful winner or, and this would be the minimal solution, declare the 2020 Election irreparably compromised and have a new Election, immediately!”Trump lawyers meet with special counsel as possible indictment looms
Trump's attorneys Todd Blanche and John Lauro have met with prosecutors in Smith's office, according to three sources.
It was not immediately clear what subjects were discussed at the meeting or if Mr. Smith took part. But similar gatherings are often used by defense lawyers as a last-ditch effort to argue against charges being filed or to convey their version of the facts and the law.
On Thursday, the prosecutors were said to have listened courteously — without signaling their intentions beyond what they had conveyed in an earlier letter to the former president — as Mr. Trump’s lawyers made their arguments.
U.S. Marshals meet with law enforcement partners outside courthouse
Members of the U.S. Marshals are meeting with other members of law enforcement at the Prettyman Federal Courthouse ahead of a possible indictment against Trump.
Officials from the U.S. Park Police and the Metropolitan Police Department were present.Trump indicted on Jan. 6 charges
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump was indicted Tuesday on charges he conspired to defraud the country he used to lead and attempted to prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power to Joe Biden.
“The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the government function by which those results are collected, counted and certified,” the indictment from special counsel Jack Smith’s office says.
The indictment accuses Trump of taking part in three criminal conspiracies: "to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud and deceit" to obstruct the electoral vote process; to "impede the January 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified;" and "against the right to vote and to have that vote counted."
He's due to be arraigned on the charges on Thursday.cy charge also suggests there could be other co-defendants included in the indictment.
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