The Day After Paul Sperry Claimed Trump Had Been Hiding January 6 Documents, DOJ Subpoenaed the Archives Again
CNN reported today that Thomas Windom, the lead AUSA on January 6 investigations targeting Trump and his cronies, sent a second subpoena to NARA.
The Justice Department has issued a new grand jury subpoena to the National Archives for more documents as part of its investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, two sources familiar with the investigation tell CNN.
This latest subpoena, issued on August 17, is in addition to a subpoena the Department of Justice sent to the Archives earlier this year, requesting the same documents and information that the Archives had previously handed over to the House select committee investigating January 6.
This new subpoena, which has not been previously reported, is understood to request additional documents and data from the Archives, pertaining to a period of time both before and after January 6.
Thomas Windom, an Assistant US Attorney, who is leading the criminal probe into the effort to impede the transfer of power after the 2020 election, including the potential role played by former President Donald Trump and allies to organize a group of fake electors who could keep Trump in power despite losing the election.
As a reminder, NYT reported that Windom subpoeaned all the stuff that the Archives had turned over to the January 6 Committee, for which the J6C had gone through the tedious process of getting an Executive Privilege waiver.
Federal prosecutors investigating the role that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies played in the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol have issued a grand jury subpoena to the National Archives for all the documents the agency provided to a parallel House select committee inquiry, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by The New York Times.
The subpoena, issued to the National Archives in May, made a sweeping demand for “all materials, in whatever form” that the archives had given to the Jan. 6 House committee. Those materials included records from the files of Mr. Trump’s top aides, his daily schedule and phone logs and a draft text of the president’s speech that preceded the riot.
There are, to be sure, a number of possible explanations for this: Perhaps Windom believes he’ll get information on the Secret Service or DHS that eluded the deletion effort shortly after Joe Biden’s inauguration. Perhaps Windom knows of someone else covered by the Archives that the January 6 Committee hasn’t yet identified, one not covered by Executive Privilege.
But I can’t help but notice that Windom obtained the subpoena the day after Paul Sperry claimed the Trump had been hoarding documents at Mar-a-Lago with the intent of thwarting the January 6 Committee. (h/t Ron Filipkowski)
Anything seized in the raid would, by definition, be evidence of a crime (the obstruction already under investigation). And Windom might have been able to craft the subpoena to obtain everything January 6 related that Trump had withheld, without the privilege waiver from Biden.
And if Windom issued this subpoena in response to Sperry’s comment, then it’ll increase the likelihood that responsive materials will be turned over before any further legal stalling happens.
In other words, by hoarding the documents he most wanted to withhold from the Committee, he may have made it easier for prosecutors to get the materials.