Nevada, New Mexico and Georgia officials subpoenaed by DOJ for records related to 2020 election
By Zachary Cohen and Jason Morris, CNN
Local officials in Nevada, New Mexico and Georgia have received federal subpoenas for records related to the 2020 election as the Justice Department’s investigation intensifies in battleground states.
Special counsel Jack Smith sent the subpoenas to the New Mexico secretary of state’s office and to the Clark County, Nevada, elections division in late November, according to copies of the requests obtained by CNN. Smith oversees the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to overturn the election results.
The subpoenas ask for any and all communications from June 1, 2020, through January 20, 2021, with former President Donald Trump, his campaign and a number of aides and allies. CNN previously reported that similar requests were sent to local officials in Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona.
In addition, the Cobb County, Georgia, election board received an FBI subpoena this week, according to Ross Cavitt, the county’s communications director. Cobb County, which incorporates a large part of Atlanta’s northern suburbs, had been the focus of false claims of voter fraud.
In late December 2020, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced an audit found “no fraudulent absentee ballots” with a 99% confidence. The audit was retrospective on absentee ballot envelopes received during November’s general election, following allegations that Cobb County didn’t follow the process.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows made a surprise visit to a Cobb County location in December 2020, where officials were conducting the absentee ballot signature audit.
CNN reported Monday that Smith had also subpoenaed Raffensperger as part of the Justice Department’s investigation. Raffensperger, who could prove to be a particularly compelling witness, resisted Trump’s efforts to pressure him to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win Georgia in an infamous January 2021 phone call.
Clark County, Nevada’s most populous county, and Arizona’s secretary of state’s office also refuted claims of voter fraud after the 2020 election.
Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland last month to oversee parts of the Justice Department’s criminal investigations into the January 6, 2021, insurrection and the retention of classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and is likely to be tasked with making policy decisions around whether to charge Trump.
Smith and his team of 20 prosecutors are moving fast in the pair of criminal probes. Since Thanksgiving, he has brought a number of close Trump associates before a grand jury in Washington, including two former White House lawyers, three of Trump’s closest aides, and his former speechwriter Stephen Miller.
This story has been updated with additional details.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, Kristen Holmes, Paula Reid, Jeremy Herb, Jason Morris, Paul LeBlanc and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
