By Cami Mondeaux, Congressional Reporter. Media: Washington Examiner.
A former Trump campaign official who had a role in the former president’s fake electors scheme is reportedly cooperating with the Justice Department as part of its investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Mike Roman is working with special counsel Jack Smith’s team to provide information on former President Donald Trump’s thinking in the weeks after his loss to President Joe Biden in 2020, sources familiar told CNN. The talks are being conducted through a proffer agreement, meaning Roman is permitted to speak with investigators in a more informal setting rather than appearing before the grand jury.
It’s not clear what information investigators are seeking from Roman, and the agreement could block them from using the testimony against him in future proceedings. However, it’s likely prosecutors are pressing the former campaign official for details on Trump’s fake electors plot, which sought to block the certification of the 2020 election across seven battleground states.
Investigators have focused on such meetings in which Trump and some of his allies suggested submitting alternative slates of electors who could be called on in the event that the election was decertified.
Roman’s cooperation comes as the special counsel’s office ramps up its investigation regarding Trump’s efforts to reverse his loss to Biden in 2020, as well as his conduct during the Jan. 6 riot. Smith is leading the DOJ effort, calling witnesses to give insight into meetings Trump held in December 2020 and January 2021 to consider actions aimed at overturning the election, as well as the former president’s pressure campaign on former Vice President Mike Pence to assist with that effort on Jan. 6.
Smith has already issued a number of subpoenas to local officials in battleground states where Trump sought to overturn election results requesting communications with the former president in the weeks following the 2020 election. The special counsel’s team also met with former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani earlier this year to provide insight into Trump’s thinking after his reelection loss.
Investigators have heard from a number of witnesses in front of a grand jury in recent weeks, with attorneys pushing to bring more in for interviews.
That includes several members of Trump’s former legal team, including Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and John Eastman. The special counsel’s office is also seeking information from former DOJ appointee Jeffrey Clark, who sought to use the department to help Trump overturn the election.
The investigation aims to uncover what the former president told his attorneys and senior officials to do as part of their bid to change the 2020 election outcome, and there are two other paths that could lead to additional scrutiny of Trump, according to previous reporting.
One centers on seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct a government proceeding, similar to charges levied against those arrested after storming the Capitol. Another involves charging Trump with fraud in connection to the false electors plot or his efforts to pressure the DOJ to overturn the results of the election.
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