Special counsel probe into Jan. 6 hones in on Trump’s fundraising: report

Special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is putting a focus on former President Trump’s fundraising, according to a new report.

The Washington Post reports that Smith’s office has sent subpoenas to the former president’s advisers, ex-campaign aides and others involved in his 2020 presidential bid. 

Investigators are looking at whether Trump or his team duped donors into giving money with false claims of voter fraud, focusing on money raised between Election Day on Nov. 3, 2020, and the end of Trump’s time in office in January, according to the Post.  

Some of the recipients of the recent subpoenas have reportedly testified before a Washington grand jury. 

Trump, who lost his reelection bid in 2020 to President Biden, is now running to reclaim the Oval Office in 2024 and leads the GOP field by a large margin in most polls.

Smith is also running an investigation into the former president’s handling of classified materials after an FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home last year turned up a trove of materials kept past his time in the White House. 

But Smith’s Jan. 6 and documents probes are just two of Trump’s legal woes — a district attorney in Georgia is also looking into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election in the state. 

And a Manhattan prosecutor earlier this month charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money paid ahead of his 2016 campaign. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts, but is the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges.