DOJ targets Trump VIPs as Jan. 6 committee is ‘triangulating’ investigation: report

New information is coming out about the expanding Department of Justice investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

"The criminal investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has expanded to examine the preparations for the rally that preceded the riot, as the Justice Department aims to determine the full extent of any conspiracy to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory, according to people familiar with the matter. In the past two months, a federal grand jury in Washington has issued subpoena requests to some officials in former president Donald Trump’s orbit who assisted in planning, funding and executing the Jan. 6 rally," The Washington Postreported.

More details were revealed in a subsequent story in The New York Times.

"A grand jury sitting in Washington is investigating the rallies that preceded the storming of the Capitol, a person familiar with the matter said. One of the subpoenas, which was reviewed by The New York Times, sought information about people 'classified as VIP attendees' at Mr. Trump’s Jan. 6 rally," the newspaper reported. "It also sought information about members of the executive and legislative branches who had been involved in the 'planning or execution of any rally or any attempt to obstruct, influence, impede or delay' the certification of the 2020 election."

The newspaper reported the DOJ was looking at multiple lines of inquiry, writing "Those include any connections between the attack on the Capitol and the organizers and prominent participants in the rally on the Ellipse, and potential criminality in the promotion of pro-Trump slates of electors to replace slates named by states won by Mr. Biden. The Justice Department previously said it was looking into the slates of electors that had falsely declared Mr. Trump the victor in seven swing states won by Mr. Biden."

Meanwhile, a member of the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol explained how Congress was advancing its investigation.

“We’re triangulating basically from a lot of different angles and we are getting a fulsome picture of what happened in the run-up to and on the day of January 6,” Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) told CNN+.

Also on Wednesday, The Guardian reported that White House call log gap from Jan. 6.

"Donald Trump used an official White House phone to place at least one call during the Capitol attack on January 6 last year that should have been reflected in the internal presidential call log from that day but was not, according to two sources familiar with the matter," Hugo Lowell reported. "The former president called the phone of a Republican senator, Mike Lee, with a number recorded as 202-395-0000, a placeholder number that shows up when a call is incoming from a number of White House department phones, the sources said. The number corresponds to an official White House phone and the call was placed by Donald Trump himself, which means the call should have been recorded in the internal presidential call log that was turned over to the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack."

MSNBC's Chris Hayes reported on the latest developments.