Federal prosecutors significantly expanded their investigation on Jan. 6 to examine the possible culpability of a wide variety of figures involved in former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election, said people who were aware of the investigation Wednesday.
The investigation now includes the possible involvement of other administration officials in Mr. Trump’s attempts to hinder the certification of President Biden’s electoral college victory and pressure from some Trump allies to promote slates of fake voters, they said.
Prosecutors are also asking about the scheduling of the rallies leading up to the Capitol attack, including the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6 last year, just before a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol.
The federal investigation initially focused largely on the rioters who had entered the Capitol, an effort that has led to more than 700 arrests. But the Justice Department appears to have entered a new phase, seeking information about people more closely associated with Mr Trump. This development comes amid mounting political pressure on Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to act more aggressively in the case.
A grand jury sitting in Washington is investigating the rallies that preceded the storming of the Capitol, said a person familiar with the case.
One of the subpoenas, reviewed by DailyExpertNews, sought information about people “classified as VIP visitors” during Mr Trump’s Jan. 6 meeting.
It also sought information on members of the executive and legislature who had been involved in the “planning or conducting of any meeting or any attempt to impede, influence, hinder or delay the certification of the 2020 election”.
And it questioned Trump supporters’ efforts to put forward alternative voter lists as Mr. Trump and his allies attempted to challenge Congress’ certification of the electoral college on Jan. 6.
Another person informed of the grand jury’s investigation said at least one person involved in the logistics of the January 6 rally had been asked to appear.
In prosecuting Jan. 6 cases, prosecutors have gathered evidence documenting how defendants cited statements by Mr. Trump to explain why they stormed the Capitol. And prosecutors have in some cases cited a Twitter post by Mr. Trump, weeks before Jan. 6, urging his followers to come to Washington, a call that particularly motivated extremist groups.
The expanded criminal investigation is underway as a separate inquiry by the House select committee on the Capitol riots gathers evidence about Mr. Trump’s attempts to stay in power and weighs the possibility of criminally referring Mr. Trump to the Ministry of Justice.
On Monday, a federal judge in California, in a civil case involving the House committee, concluded that Mr. Trump was likely guilty of criminal conduct, including obstructing the work of Congress and conspiring to defraud the United States. to cheat.
Mr. Garland has provided few public indications as to whether the Justice Department would consider prosecuting Mr. Trump, saying only that the Department will follow the facts wherever they lead.
But the extensive investigation, elements of which were previously reported by the Washington Post, suggests prosecutors are pursuing a number of lines of inquiry. Those include possible connections between the attack on the Capitol and the organizers and prominent participants of the rally on the Ellipse, and possible criminality in promoting pro-Trump electoral rolls to replace slates named by states Mr. Biden voted for. won.
The Justice Department previously said it was examining voter rolls that Mr Trump falsely declared winners in seven swing states won by Biden.
Even when election officials in the seven disputed states sent official lists of voters who voted for Mr. Biden to the electoral college, the false slates claimed that Mr. Trump was the winner in an apparent attempt to undermine the election results.
Lawmakers, state officials and the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots had asked the Justice Department to look into the role of those fake voters and the documents they submitted to the National Archives on Dec. 14, 2020. The grand jury subpoenas suggest prosecutors want to gather evidence whether filing the documents with a federal agency is a crime.
The Aftermath of Capitol Riot: Key Developments
January 6 call logs. According to White House call logs, President Donald J. Trump tried to cling to power by repeatedly contacting members of Congress before and during the attack on the Capitol. These logs also show a 7-hour gap with no recording of calls when investigators know that Mr. Trump made them.
Mr. Trump’s allies were thinking about building their own electoral rolls as early as 15 days after Election Day. The House selection committee is also investigating the bogus electoral scheme.
The House Committee’s investigators, like the federal prosecutors, were also interested in the planning and financing of the January 6 demonstration on the Ellipse and the key figures involved. Ali Alexander, a prominent figure in the pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” movement and a rally organizer, has worked with the House committee. Mr. Alexander marched from the meeting to the Capitol with Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and Infowars host.
The House panel also gathered information from Amy Kremer, the president of Women for America First, who helped plan the rally.
The commission has also sent subpoenas seeking information from Katrina Pierson, the former spokeswoman for Mr. Trump’s national campaign; Kylie Jane Kremer, the daughter of Amy Kremer and the director of Women for America First; Lyndon Brentnall, the owner of a Florida-based security company who was the “on-site supervisor” for the rally; Maggie Mulvaney, a niece of former top Trump aide Mick Mulvaney who is on the permit for the event; Megan Powers, an operations manager; and Tim Unes, whose company was listed as the stage manager for the gathering.
The criminal charges against rioters so far have ranged from misdemeanors to obstructing Congress in its duty to certify the election of the Electoral College. The commission also filed conspiracy charges against leaders of two of the extremist groups that played a prominent role in the Capitol attack, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, was charged this month with conspiring with other top lieutenants of the far-right nationalist group to disrupt election certification.
In January, prosecutors charged Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers militia, with seditious conspiracy to commit what the administration has described as a plot to violently disrupt the work of Congress.