Jan. 6 Committee Sends 6 New Subpoenas Focused on Fake Trump Electors

Six subpoenas have been issued to people who may have been part of the plans to send fake electors to Washington, D.C., to cast their votes against the will of states and overturn the 2020 Presidential election in favor of former President Donald Trump.

The new subpoenas were issued by the House committee investigating the events surrounding the Capitol riots of January 6, 2021, to Michael Roman and Gary Michael Brown, a pair of Trump campaign officials, and Douglas Mastriano, who was allegedly part of the plan to arrange for false electors from Pennsylvania, according to a release from the committee.

In addition, Laura Cox was subpoenaed because she was allegedly present when former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani "pressured state lawmakers to disregard election results." Mark Finchem was subpoenaed for allegedly arranging post-election events where unproven election claims were discussed and who was in Washington on January 6. And Kelli Ward, who was head of the Arizona Republican party and one of the people who signed a document that falsely "certified" a group of Republicans as electors for the state, was also subpoenaed.

"The Select Committee is seeking information about efforts to send false slates of electors to Washington and change the outcome of the 2020 election," committee chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement. "We're seeking records and testimony from former campaign officials and other individuals in various states who we believe have relevant information about the planning and implementation of those plans."

The subpoenas come after several others were issued last month to a group of individuals across several states that allegedly met to discuss the plan to send the "alternate" electors to secure the election for Trump, as Newsweek previously reported.

The new subpoenas request a variety of documents from the six individuals in addition to requests that they appear for depositions over several days in March.

The letter to Roman, the Director of the Trump campaign's Election Day Operations, states that the committee has communications allegedly sent by Roman that imply he was involved in a plan to contact state lawmakers and tell them to "reclaim" their freedom by sending alternate electors that would support Trump, going against the voted will of the state's residents.

Brown, who was deputy director of the election day operations under Roman, was also subpoenaed with similar reasoning, the letter addressed to him from the committee states.

Mastriano, a Republican in the Pennsylvania State Senate, was subpoenaed because of his alleged involvement in the plan for Pennsylvania to send alternate electors to support Trump, and the committee's letter to him states that he communicated directly with Trump about the plans. The letter also states that Mastriano was allegedly present in Washington on January 6.

The committee also subpoenaed Cox, who is the former chair of Michigan's Republican Party and a former state Rep., because she was present when Giuliani reportedly told state lawmakers that it would be a "criminal act" to certify the state's election results, referencing a December 2020 MLive report.

Finchem, a Republican in the Arizona state House, was subpoenaed due to several allegations, the committee's letter states. In the days following the certification of Arizona's results, Finchem repeatedly claimed the results weren't legitimate and claimed the election was "rigged," the letter states. In addition to allegedly meeting with members of the Trump legal team November 30, 2020, Finchem was allegedly in attendance January 6 looking to bring "evidence" to then-Vice President Mike Pence that would lead him to "consider" postponing the certification of the results, according to the letter.

Ward, the former chair of Arizona's Republican Party, was subpoenaed earlier this month along with her husband, Michael Ward, as the committee was looking to obtain phone records of the pair, Newsweek previously reported. In the new subpoena, the committee states that Ward allegedly texted a state election official after The Associated Press and Fox News had called the election in favor of Biden that the state needed to "stop the counting." The letter also states that Ward allegedly spoke with Trump and other campaign officials about "election certification issues" in Arizona.

The committee said in its release that it has spoken with over 550 individuals in its investigation into the events leading up to January 6.

Update 2/15/22, 7:04 p.m.: This story has been updated with additional context and information.