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Personal assistant to Trump visited by FBI, receives subpoena from Jan. 6 grand jury [1]
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Date: 2022-09-08
Russell started working alongside Trump in 2017 and came to serve as both his special assistant and as something known as the deputy director of advance presidential operations. His insights are not only being sought by the FBI and Department of Justice, but according to ABC News, the Jan. 6 committee has also sought out the 31-year-old assistant.
He is the latest Trump White House insider reportedly tapped by investigators unraveling the Jan. 6 attack and Trump’s plot to overturn the 2020 election. Pat Cipollone, the former White House counsel under Trump, and Cipollone’s deputy Patrick Philbin were recently hauled before a grand jury to testify.
RELATED STORY: Trump White House lawyer Pat Cipollone testifies before Jan. 6 grand jury
Justice Department probes into the events of Jan. 6 and the former president’s involvement are moving at a steady pace. The subpoena of Russell after Cipollone and Philbin could suggest that investigators are tightening a circle around Trump as they review the conduct of his closest advisers and aides.
There are several major criminal investigations into Trump happening at present. They include the investigation into the removal of classified documents from the White House, the Jan. 6 probe into the U.S. Capitol attack and the push to overturn the 2020 election results, and the interference in the election by Trump and his allies in Georgia. Both the New York State Attorney General’s civil probe into the Trump Organization for tax fraud and a criminal probe led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg continue.
The federal grand jury exploring Jan. 6 has also reportedly had its attention focused on Trump’s political action committee, Save America. ABC News reported Thursday that subpoenas issued to people involved or familiar with the PAC’s operations have been questioned about “fundraising activities.”
In the months leading up to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Trump raised huge sums from donors on the premise that voter fraud was widespread in the 2020 election and the cause of his defeat by now-President Joe Biden. That funding, he and his campaign staff and lawyers would say regularly, was needed to cover the exorbitant legal costs of contesting the rigged election.
Investigations by the press and the Jan. 6 committee, however, have both uncovered evidence suggesting Trump used those funds not for their advertised purpose but to pay for unrelated items and services, including a hefty payment of $60,000 to a designer who styled former First Lady Melania Trump.
The Save America PAC raked in over $130 million since it was formed and the flow of cash hasn’t stopped. According to Open Secrets, the PAC had about $100 million on hand in July.
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/8/2121523/-Trump-s-personal-assistant-subpoenaed-by-prosecutors-investigating-Jan-6-fake-elector-bid
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