Trump Special Counsel Reportedly Probing Potential Wire Fraud Related to Fundraising Off Election Lies

AP Photo/Seth Wenig.

Former President Donald Trump is reportedly under investigation by federal prosecutors probing the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol for alleged wire fraud related to his fundraising efforts between the 2020 presidential election and President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The Washington Post broke the news on Wednesday evening, citing “eight people with knowledge of the investigation” who “spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation.”

The report is authored by investigative political reporters Josh Dawsey and Rosalind S. Helderman, as well as FBI correspondent Devlin Barrett and congressional reporter Jacqueline Alemany.

The report explains that Special Counsel Jack Smith is looking at potential wire fraud crimes committed by Trump and his “fundraising operation” for using false claims of election fraud to elicit donations, which would “violated wire fraud laws.” The Post notes that under federal law it is “illegal to make false representations over email to swindle people out of money.”

The report adds:

Smith’s office has sent subpoenas in recent weeks to Trump advisers and former campaign aides, Republican operatives and other consultants involved in the 2020 presidential campaign, the people said. They have also heard testimony from some of these figures in front of a Washington grand jury, some of the people said.

The subpoenas, which were issued in early March, have not previously been reported and are aimed at gathering private communications between Trump and his fundraising staff to better understand whether or not they believed the claims behind their messaging, which the Post reports “generated more than $200 million in donations from conservatives.”

Back in December 2020, USA Today ran a searing editorial slamming Trump for fundraising off of election fraud claims. “Trump fundraiser to challenge voting results is the real election fraud,” declared the editorial board in the headline. The board quoted some of Trump’s fundraising calls, “We are fighting against the Democrats, Mainstream media, AND Big Tech all at once.”

“They want you to think this Election is over, but they are wrong,” read another fundraising email. Now Smith and his investigator are probing whether or not that messaging constituted actual fraud.

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