U.S. special counsel Jack Smith has issued a subpoena to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to appear before a grand jury, it emerged on Monday, in the latest sign that the prosecutor appointed to investigate former President Donald Trump's is speeding ahead with his probe.
Smith remains in Europe where he is recovering from a bicycle accident.
However, he has made a string of high-profile moves since being put in charge of federal criminal investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
He has issued subpoenas to officials in five states, and brought a string of Trump's closest associates before a grand jury in Washington, D.C.
Jack Smith has made rapid progress since being appointed special counsel to investigate Donald Trump's attempts to challenge the 2020 election results
On Monday it emerged that he had sent a subpoena to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. President Donald Trump was recorded telling him in a 2021 phone call: 'I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have'
And on Monday, the Washington Post obtained the subpoena for Raffensperger.
It asks him to appear on December 29, and to provide all communications with the Trump campaign or Trump himself from June 1, 2020, through January 20, 2021, when he left office days after supporters ransacked the U.S. Capitol building.
It says that should include communications with Trump lawyers and advisers such as campaign director Bill Stepien, as well as Sidney Powell and Lin Wood who brought some of the most outlandish legal cases rejecting the 2020 results.
A spokeswoman for Raffensperger declined to comment on the subpoena.
He emerged last year as a key witness in any investigation when a taped phone call revealed Trump had suggested that Raffensperger 'find' the votes needed to give him a win in Georgia.
'I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,' Trump said.
The subpoena was dated Friday.
The subpoena was dated Friday, and was obtained by the Washington Post
It asks Raffensperger to provide all communications with the Trump campaign or Trump himself from June 1, 2020, through January 20, 2021 - including correspondence with a string of key Trump allies, advisers and lawyers
It follows others served last week. Like those other locations, Georgia was a target of Trump and his allies as they sought to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
Smith was appointed soon after Trump announced his 2024 presidential run.
Legal commentators say the pace of his investigation suggests he means business.
Former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara said on Sunday that the investigation looked to be on gearing up to bring charges, with the appointment of a special counsel, who had built a powerful team.
'I don't think they would've left their former positions, both in government and private practice, unless there was a serious possibility that the Justice Department was on a path to charge,' he told NBC's Meet the Press.
'And I think it'll happen in a month.'
He has already built a team thought to be 20-strong, bigger that Robert Mueller's team when he was investigating Trump and his 2016 campaign for alleged collusion with Russia.
Smith also took over the investigation into Trump's handling of presidential and classified documents after leaving office.
He has yet to announce when he will return to the U.S. He is convalescing from knee surgery.
Last week, he subpoenaed officials in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin for any communications with the former president or his aides and allies.
Jack Smith, in his first known subpoenas in the investigation into Trump, is looking to obtain records of communication from Dane County, Wisconsin; Maricopa County, Arizona; Wayne County, Michigan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to The Washington Post.
'I'm happy to participate in this process,' Milwaukee clerk George Christenson said when confirming the subpoena Tuesday and providing a copy to The Post.
Like the Raffensperger subpoena, they specifically name Trump, as well as some of his employees, agents and attorneys for his 2020 campaign, and ask for communication between local officials and these individuals.
The subpoenas are asking counties in the states to turn over any and all communication between local officials and Trump and his aides and allies leading up to the January 6 Capitol attack
The states where the subpoenas were issued – Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin — were all central to Trump's failed efforts to reverse the 2020 presidential election results and stay in power following President Joe Biden's victory.
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell confirmed receiving a similar subpoena to the one Christenson received in Milwaukee.
'I am not aware of any significant communications that have not already been made public,' McDonell said.
A Maricopa County spokesperson, Fields Moseley, said: 'We have received a subpoena and will comply.'
The special counsel was appointed following months of disagreements regarding the investigation into Trump taking documents to his Mar-a-Lago home and efforts from the former president's attorneys trying to have some say in the selection process.
Republicans immediately pounced on attempts to discredit Smith and bring his ability to be impartial into question – specifically pointing to his wife's career and political donations.
Smith's wife, Katy Chevingy, was the producer for Michelle Obama's 2020 documentary Becoming and donated $1,000 to Joe Biden 's 2020 presidential campaign.
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