Jack Smith interviews officials in Pennsylvania and New Mexico as Jan. 6 probe heats up: CNN

Special counsel Jack Smith has interviewed officials in Pennsylvania and New Mexico in connection with the January 6 probe, completing such talks with all seven states at the center of the alleged election overthrow scheme, CNN reported on Friday.

This comes shortly after reports earlier this week that Smith held interviews with Jared Kushner and Hope Hicks, top members of the Trump White House inner circle, to try to gauge the former president's state of mind during the plots to overturn the 2020 election.

"What more do we know first of all about these interviews with top election officials in Pennsylvania and New Mexico?" asked anchor Erica Hill in discussion with CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez.

"Well, we're talking about Al Schmidt, who was a former Philadelphia city commissioner," said Perez. "You'll remember that Philadelphia was the focus of a lot of efforts by the former president and some of his allies claiming there was fraud in Center City."

"[Schmidt is] a Republican," added Perez. "He was appointed as the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and he, in his interview with the special counsel Jack Smith's team, he talked about some of the pressures that he and other officials in Philadelphia faced because of the efforts of the former president and his allies."

"The other person who was interviewed is the Secretary of State of New Mexico, Maggie Toulouse Oliver," continued Perez. "It's a similar thing we have heard from other officials about the pressures these officials face as a result of the efforts of the former president to overturn the elections there. As you pointed out, seven states were the focus of this effort and now we know that Jack Smith has subpoenaed records from all seven of those states."