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WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal grand jury investigating attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election has subpoenaed then-President Donald Trump’s White House counsel and his top deputy, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The subpoenas of Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin signal a deepening of the Justice Department’s investigation into the events surrounding the deadly riot on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol, when Trump loyalists stormed the building in hopes of stopping the certification of the election results. They also suggest that prosecutors consider close Trump advisers potentially important witnesses.
Cipollone was the White House’s top lawyer in the final days of the Trump administration and was part of the legal team that defended the Republican president in his first House impeachment trial in 2020. But Cipollone vigorously opposed efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the presidential election Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, saying he did not agree there was enough fraud to have affected the outcome of the race.
The grand jury subpoenas were confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Cipollone, Philbin and an attorney representing them did not return messages seeking comment.
What will happen next is unclear, although there may be negotiations over the scope of the grand jury testimony, given that Cipollone and Philbin were White House lawyers and privy to numerous private conversations with the president. Executive privilege generally protects the president’s ability to receive candid advice from advisers without fear of immediate public disclosure, although there are limits.
Federal prosecutors have been particularly focused on a scheme by Trump allies to field fake voters in key battleground states won by Biden as a way to undermine the vote, issuing subpoenas in recent weeks to multiple state GOP chairmen.
Other subpoena recipients include Mark Short, who was former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff and who testified before the grand jury.
The Justice Department’s investigation into the January 6, 2021 riot and attempts to nullify the election continues alongside a separate investigation by a House committee that has held several public hearings, including in prime time.
Cipollone was interviewed privately by that panel last month and declined to discuss his conversations with Trump, citing executive privilege.
But parts of Cipollone’s personal interview were featured prominently in the panel’s latest hearings since Jan. 6, including videos of him discussing a heated December 2020 White House meeting in which Trump’s outside aides and advisers discussed proposed executive order calling for voting machine seizures.
“Getting the federal government to confiscate voting machines? This is a terrible idea for the country. That’s not the way we do things in the United States,” Cipollone testified, adding, “I don’t see why we even have to tell you why this is a bad idea for the country.”
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