Jacquelyn Martin/AP
The Justice Department's criminal investigations into the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol have expanded to include the planning of former President Donald Trump's rally ahead of the riot, the Washington Post first reported.
A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, has issued subpoenas to officials in Trump's orbit who were involved in planning the rally, according to the Post. At the "Stop the Steal" event, held a short walk from the US Capitol, Trump urged his supporters to march to Congress and "fight like hell" as lawmakers planned to certify the electoral victory of now-President Joe Biden.
One subpoena sought information about "VIP attendees" at Trump's rally, as well as information about members of the executive and legislative branches involved in the "planning or execution of any rally or any attempt to obstruct, influence, impede or delay" the vote to certify Biden's win, The New York Times reported.
The subpoena also inquired about information related to alternate slates of electors, according to The Times. Memos the Trump campaign prepared outlined a plan to send electors from different states to Congress who would select Trump as the winner of swing states he lost, overriding the will of voters to give him a second term as president.
Republicans in some swing states Trump lost falsely posed as legitimate electoral college electors. The Justice Department may be examining whether submitting documents pretending to be electors amounts to a crime, The Times reported.
The Justice Department's January 6 investigation thus far has mostly been focused on the rioters who stormed the Capitol, stalling Congress's certification vote. The agency has brought charges against more than 800 people so far, according to a database maintained by Insider.
But the reported grand jury subpoenas indicate a shift in focus to the events leading up to the insurrection. It runs parallel to a Congressional investigation, which has issued subpoenas and filed lawsuits that have sought to establish links between Trump's circle and the rioters. Ali Alexander, an organizer of the "Stop the Steal" rally, has been cooperating with the House committee examining the events of January 6.
Some of the riot suspects, as the Justice Department has established, took Trump's words as instructions to storm the Capitol.
"We plan on going to DC on the 6th [because] Trump wants all able bodied Patriots to come," Jessica Watkins, a member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who participated in the insurrection, said in a message prosecutors obtained. "If Trump activates the Insurrection Act, I'd hate to miss it."
