Georgia GOP chairman hit with DOJ subpoena in fake elector investigation: report

On Wednesday, CNN reported that the Justice Department has issued a subpoena to Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer as part of its investigation into the pro-Trump fake "electors" that were seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

This comes as the DOJ expands its probe, issuing subpoenas to a wide list of GOP officials in multiple states.

"Federal investigators subpoenaed the Georgia Republican Party chairman for information related to the fake elector scheme there — as the Justice Department has issued a fresh round of subpoenas to people from several states who acted as rogue electors after the 2020 presidential election, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN," reported Zachary Cohen, Sara Murray, Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, and Marshall Cohen. "The subpoena for the chairman, David Shafer, represents a significant step because he played a central role in organizing the fake slate of electors from Georgia and coordinated the effort with the Trump campaign."

Shafer, who has previously stirred controversy by tweeting in support of Russia's Vladimir Putin, signed his name to the slate of fake electors, which experts have argued could open him up to legal jeopardy.

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The fake elector scheme was part of a plan detailed in a memo by far-right Trump attorney John Eastman. As part of the plan, Vice President Mike Pence would use the fake electors as proof that several states President Joe Biden won were disputed, and thus discard the real electors, throwing the majority of "counted" electors to Trump.

Experts broadly believed this plan was illegal, and even Eastman himself privately admitted to the former president there was no basis for it in the law.