Trump special counsel subpoenas Georgia's Republican elections chief: report

On Monday, The Washington Postreported that Jack Smith, the special counsel in charge of all federal investigations of former President Donald Trump, has issued a subpoena to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

"State and local officials in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have received similar subpoenas — all of them, like Georgia, central to President Donald Trump’s failed plan to stay in power after the 2020 election," reported Amy Gardner. "State and local officials in Nevada, the other contested battleground from 2020, did not respond or declined to say whether they had heard from the Department of Justice."

As Trump was seeking to overturn the 2020 election, he called Raffensperger directly and demanded that he "find" thousands of extra votes to help him win Georgia. That matter is also under criminal investigation in the state of Georgia, by Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis.

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"The requests for records arrived in Milwaukee and Dane County, Wis.; Maricopa County, Ariz.; and Wayne County, Mich., over the first few days of December," said the report. "Since then, the secretaries of state in Arizona and Michigan have received similar requests, as has Allegheny County, Pa., home to Pittsburgh. Officials in Philadelphia and with the Pennsylvania Department of State declined to comment. The Associated Press first reported the Allegheny subpoena."

"The Georgia subpoena, which is dated Dec. 9, adds to the evidence that the Justice Department is extending its examination of the circumstances leading up to the Capitol attack to include local and state election officials and their potential interactions with the former president and his representatives related to the 2020 election," said the report. "The virtually identical requests seek communications with Trump, in addition to employees, agents and attorneys for his campaign."

In addition to the election investigation, Smith has also taken over the investigation of classified documents that were hidden at various locations owned by the former president after leaving office, including his Mar-a-Lago country club.