Special Counsel, Eyeing Trump, Subpoenas Peach State Official

The Georgia secretary of state, Bradley Raffensperger, has received a subpoena related to special counsel John “Jack” Smith’s investigation of former President Donald Trump, who focused strongly on the state as he sought to overturn his 2020 election loss.Mr. Smith was appointed last month to oversee not only the Justice Department’s Mar-a-Lago investigation but also aspects of Mr. Trump’s scramble to stay in power — including his effort in Georgia — and the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.In a January 2 phone call, Mr. Trump suggested that Mr. Raffensperger “find” the votes needed to give him a win in Georgia.The subpoena, which is dated Friday and was received by Mr. Raffensperger’s office Monday, follows others served last week in several states and counties. Like those other locations, Georgia was a target of Mr. Trump and his allies as they sought to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.The special counsel is seeking “any and all communications in any form” between June 1, 2020, and January 20, 2021, “to, from or involving” Mr. Trump, his campaign, lawyers, and aides. These include former campaign officials such as Bill Stepien and Justin Clark and lawyers John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn, L. Lin Wood, Sidney Powell, and Mayor Giuliani, according to the subpoena, which was obtained by the Associated Press.Efforts by Mr. Trump and his associates to reverse his loss in Georgia are currently the subject of a separate investigation led by the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, at Atlanta. A special grand jury seated to aid that investigation has heard from dozens of witnesses, including a number of high-profile allies of Mr. Trump, over the past six months and is expected to wrap up its work soon.Among other things, Ms. Willis is investigating the January 2, 2021, phone call between Messrs. Trump and Raffensperger.It was not immediately clear whether any counties in Georgia had also received subpoenas from the special counsel.In the weeks following the 2020 election, Mr. Trump focused in part on Fulton County, which includes most of the city of Atlanta, making unsupported allegations of election fraud. The county had not received a subpoena by Monday morning, according to a spokesman.

Special Counsel, Eyeing Trump, Subpoenas Peach State Official

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