Jan. 6 Committee Issues Subpoenas Tied to Fake 2020 Electors

(Bloomberg) -- Fourteen people allegedly involved in producing falsified state elector slates backing former President Donald Trump are being subpoenaed by the House committee investigating last year’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

All of those subpoenaed signed documents as either the chairpersons or secretaries of the groups of Trump supporters who submitted slates of “alternate electors” from seven battleground states carried by President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, according to the committee.

The House panel is investigating whether the effort was coordinated, and by whom, and whether it was part of a wider attempt to overturn Biden’s election victory over Trump, including the siege at the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was certifying the electoral votes.

The certificates, which declared Trump the winner of Electoral College votes in the seven states -- Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- were sent to the National Archives by Trump’s allies in mid-December 2020, along with other documents. The New Mexico and Pennsylvania instructions included that the Trump electors should only be counted if there was a disputed election.

“We believe the individuals we have subpoenaed today have information about how these so-called alternate electors met and who was behind that scheme,” Representative Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chairs the committee, said.

Those subpoenaed are: from Arizona, Nancy Cottle, chairperson and Loraine Pellegrino, secretary; from Georgia, David Shafer, chairman, and Shawn Still, secretary; from Michigan, Kathy Berden, chairperson, Mayra Rodriguez, secretary; from New Mexico, Jewll Powdrell, chairperson, and Deborah Maestas, secretary; from Nevada, Michael McDonald, chairperson, and James DeGraffenreid, secretary; from Pennsylvania, Bill Bachenberg, chairperson and Lisa Patton, secretary; and from Wisconsin, Andrew Hitt, chairperson, and Kelly Ruh, secretary.

The committee, in its statement, said the so-called alternate electors from those states transmitted the purported Electoral-College certificates to Congress, which “multiple people advising Trump or his campaign then used to justify delaying or blocking the certification of the election during Jan. 6 joint congressional session.

The subpoenas call on the 14 officials to provide requested documents to the committee by Feb. 11. They are asked to appear for depositions planned for Feb. 16 to Feb. 28. 

Committee members, including Thompson and Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland, have previously said the panel wanted to look into the bogus Electoral College Certificates, seen as a move to exacerbate suspicions of contested state results. 

One potential aim was to give then-Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over Congress’ electoral count on Jan. 6, a pretext to throw out the actual results or electors.

“The first thing is that we want to look at the fraudulent activity that was contained in the preparation of these fake Electoral College certificates,” Raskin said. “And then we want to look to see to what extent this is part of a comprehensive plan to overthrow the results of the election.”

Separately, state attorneys general in Michigan and New Mexico, both states won by President Joe Biden, have asked the Justice Department to investigate the decision by Republican electors to sign statements that claimed to affirm Trump as the winner in those states. Representative Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, last week asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate similar activity in his state.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told CNN on Tuesday that the Department of Justice is looking into the matter.

The Washington Post has reported that Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was involved in the effort to produce alternative electors to cast doubt on the validity of the election results. Giuliani is among current and former Trump advisers who have been subpoenaed by the House committee.

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