The subpoena for the chairman, David Shafer, represents a significant step because he played a central role in organizing the fake slate of electors from Georgia and coordinated the effort with the Trump campaign.
The Justice Department has been scrutinizing the Trump campaign’s use of so-called alternate electors. The new round of subpoenas represents an escalation of a criminal probe that, before now, had approached lower-level Republicans. All along, however, federal investigators have pursued information about political figures higher up, including at the top of the Trump campaign.
Just this week, the House select committee’s separate investigation highlighted that some lawyers working with the Trump campaign had directed the effort to convene Trump’s fake slates in battleground states he lost.
In this latest round of subpoenas, the targets are people who signed on to the illegitimate slates, sources say.
Shafer did not respond to a request for comment. He now finds himself embroiled in three separate investigations — the congressional inquiry into January 6, a Fulton County, Georgia, criminal probe and the Justice Department’s investigation.
Another source said the FBI has sought information, including the contents of a phone, from Brad Carver, one of the Georgia fake electors. The FBI has also been seeking information about Georgia Republicans who participated in a private Signal chat in the run-up to the 2020 election, the source said.
Carver did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
This story has been updated with additional details.
