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Federal agents investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday launched citations to people in various places, expanding the investigation into how political activists supporting President Donald Trump tried to use invalid voters to thwart Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Officers conducted court-authorized law enforcement activities Wednesday morning at various locations, FBI officials confirmed to The Washington Post. One was the home of Brad Carver, a Georgia lawyer who allegedly signed a document claiming to be Trump’s voter. The other was Thomas Lane’s Virginia home, which worked on Trump’s campaign efforts in Arizona and New Mexico. FBI officials did not identify the people associated with these addresses, but public records indicate each of the locations as the men’s home.
Among those who received a citation on Wednesday was David Shafer, the chairman of the Republican Party of Georgia, who served as Trump’s voter in that state, people familiar with the investigation said. Shafer’s lawyer declined to comment.
Separately, at least some of Trump’s potential voters in Michigan received citations, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak of an ongoing investigation. But it was not immediately clear whether this activity was related to a federal investigation or a state-level criminal investigation.
Trump campaign documents show that advisers knew the fake voter plan was unfounded
The precise nature of the information sought by the Justice Department in the homes of Carver and Lane was not immediately clear.
Officials have previously said that the Justice Department and the FBI were examining the issue of fake voters, which Trump and others hoped could be approved by state lawmakers in a final attempt to keep Trump in the White House. Until now, however, those research efforts seemed to consist primarily of talking to and opposing people in Republican circles who knew the scheme; citations issued on Wednesday suggest the Justice Department is now moving to question at least some of those who allegedly agreed to continue the effort.
FBI agents handed a subpoena to Lane Wednesday morning at his Virginia home, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak of an ongoing investigation. After leaving the Trump campaign, Lane has worked for the Republican National Committee’s election efforts in Virginia, the person said.
A video posted online in 2020 appears to show Lane handing out paperwork for voters at the Arizona Republican Party’s alternate voter signing ceremony on Dec. 14 in Phoenix.
The phone messages left for Lane were not returned immediately. Georgia’s lawyer, Carver, did not immediately respond to comments. Public records indicate a Lane address south of Arlington, and an FBI spokeswoman confirmed that officers conducted “court-authorized law enforcement activities” at that address Wednesday morning.
New Justice Department investigative moves come amid a series of high-profile congressional hearings examining not only the Capitol riots, but also Trump’s efforts to undo Biden’s election victory through of fake voters, pressuring the Justice Department and false statements from mass voters. frau.
Before, during, after: the January 6 attack
Arizona and Georgia officials testified before the House Select Committee on Tuesday about the activities launched by Trump and his inner circle of advisers to those states. On Thursday, the court will hold a hearing with witnesses from former Justice Department officials.
The Post has reported an increase in the number of violent threats against lawmakers who are part of this panel, with three people involved in the Jan. 6 legislative investigation saying all committee members are likely to receive a security detail.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department sent subpoenas and requested interviews with some of them the 15 people across the country who were scheduled to be Trump voters if he had won their states, but were replaced by other Trump supporters on election polling day, several people told The Post .
Some of these Republicans have told The Post that they did not run as voters because Biden had won the popular vote in his state and they he did not believe that the gatherings were adequate; others said they refused to participate because they were ill or had scheduling conflicts.
Among those who refused to participate were Pennsylvania Republican Party President Lawrence Tabas, an election law expert who had defended Trump in 2016 against a count by Green Party candidate Jill Stein; former Congressman Tom Marino (R-Pa.), one of the first members of Congress to endorse Trump’s presidential campaign; and Georgia real estate investor John Isakson, son of the late Republican Senator Johnny Isakson.
Those previous citations searched all documents since October 1, 2020, related to the polling station vote, as well as any election-related communications with about a dozen people in Trump’s inner circle, including Rudy Giuliani, Bernard Kerik, Boris Epshteyn, Jenna Ellis. and John Eastman.
An aspiring Trump voter in Georgia, Patrick Gartland, had been appointed to the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration and believed that this position meant serving as a voter would have created a conflict of interest for him. Still, recently two FBI agents he came home with a subpoena and asked if he had any contact with Trump’s advisers around the November election. “They wanted to know if he had talked to Giuliani,” Gartland said.
Trump’s fake voters in Georgia say they wrap plans “in secret”, email shows
Capitol Hill hearings have increased public pressure on the Justice Department to investigate Trump and his relatives more aggressively for their roles before Jan. 6.
But senior Justice Department officials have also complained to the court that prosecutors need access to transcripts of more than 1,000 private committee interviews, and said not having such transcripts jeopardizes the pending trial of five members of the extremist group Proud Boys accused of seditious conspiracy. for his alleged role in the riots. The federal judge in charge of the case on Wednesday ordered another postponement of the trial, from August 8 to December.
More than 820 people have already been indicted by the Justice Department for their alleged role in the Jan. 6 attack, making it the largest investigation in the department’s history. Hundreds more people are being sought.
Earlier this year, prosecutors significantly expanded their investigation by issuing subpoenas to those involved in preparations for the rally that preceded the riot.
Jacqueline Alemany, Alice Crites, Amy Gardner, Rosalind S. Helderman, and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez contributed to this report.