Special counsel Jack Smith offers fake electors immunity in Jan. 6 probe: report

Special counsel Jack Smith has reached agreements with at least two fake GOP electors to provide them limited immunity in exchange for testifying before a grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, CNN reported Friday. 

People familiar with the situation told the outlet that federal prosecutors have been trying to quickly confirm evidence on the record recently and have refused to grant extensions to subpoenas for testimony for some witnesses. 

They also said Smith’s office was prepared to compel testimony from witnesses who were given immunity but indicated they would refuse to answer questions under their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. 

CNN reported that the testimony has allowed the office to gain information that other investigations looking into the aftermath of the 2020 race could not get.

One source told the outlet that at least one other witness has also spoken to investigators in the past two weeks in exchange for not facing prosecution. 

At least six witnesses testified before the grand jury organized in Washington, D.C., during four days in the past two weeks, many of them centered around the fake electors plan. 

Following former President Trump’s electoral defeat in the 2020 election, fake electors organized in multiple key swing states that decided the election in favor of President Biden to falsely declare Trump the winner. 

Several people familiar with the probe told CNN that the number of witnesses testifying, their profile and prosecutors’ tactics hint that Smith’s office is increasing the pace of the probe. 

Trump and his allies have repeatedly made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him because of voter fraud, but multiple election audits and lawsuits brought by Trump’s 2020 campaign determined that no evidence existed of widespread fraud affecting the results of any state. 

The Hill has reached out to a spokesperson for the special counsel’s office for comment. 

CNN also reported that the two witnesses given immunity for testifying before the grand jury were Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald and Nevada Republican Party official Jim DeGraffenreid. Attorneys for both of them declined to comment to CNN. 

The updates in Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection come after Trump was indicted earlier this month on 37 federal charges related to the classified and sensitive documents kept at his Mar-a-Lago property after he left the White House. Smith is also overseeing that investigation. 

Trump has insisted that he committed no wrongdoing in the case and pleaded not guilty to all charges.