Special Counsel Jack Smith And Team Subpoena Donald Trump’s Allies

Special counsel Jack Smith is investigating the efforts to overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. And now it has emerged that a new round of subpoenas were reportedly sent to former President Donald Trump’s allies in recent weeks as part of the investigation.

Smith’s team subpoenaed Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, asking him to hand over records to a federal grand jury, a source told CNN. It is part of an investigation into the former President’s fundraising following the 2020 election. The subpoena was sent more than a month ago. It requested documents from Giuliani about payments he got around the 2020 election. At the time, Giuliani filed many lawsuits on Trump’s behalf contesting the election results.

According to sources, prosecutors have also subpoenaed other witnesses who are close to Trump. They have asked for documents that are related to disbursements from the Save America Political Action Committee (PAC), which is Trump’s primary fundraising operation set up shortly after the 2020 election.

Sources said that the subpoenas to other witnesses along with Giuliani were sent in late December.

The subpoenas show prosecutors’ interest in following the money after the election as part of their criminal investigation around Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss, reported KOAM. Save America was part of broader fundraising efforts by the former President and the Republican Party. It had raised more than $250 million after the 2020 election. Since then, the PAC has compensated several lawyers who now represent Trump and his allies in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot. A source said that with Giuliani, the investigators have focused on getting financial information from him.

There are questions from federal investigators about who is paying for legal representation for subpoena recipients, reported CNN. The subpoenas asked people not only how their legal bills were being paid, but also to provide a copy of the lawyer retention agreement. That is if the bills were being covered by anyone else other than themselves.

This comes after Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, told the Jan. 6 committee that she switched lawyers. She did so because she felt uncomfortable with the actions of her attorney, who was funded by Trump. Hutchinson had said that she was repeatedly told to downplay her role in the White House.