Special counsel Jack Smith's team investigating former President Donald Trump's efforts to remain in office after the 2020 election subpoenaed two former White House aides in connection to the firing of former cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs, two sources with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times.
The subpoenas were issued to officials in the Presidential Personnel Office two weeks ago, the sources said, as Smith's team seems to be turning its attention to determining Trump's perspective of Krebs' firing and a timeline of events leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller's team, said it was a "very natural thing for Jack to examine as part of plot to overthrow the election."
"Krebs will make a great trial witness for govt," he predicted on Twitter.
BREAKING. A very natural thing for Jack to examine as part of plot to overthrow the election. AND Krebs will make a great trial witness for govt. https://t.co/kCOB9HJmgn
— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) May 31, 2023
Investigators have been questioning witnesses about the circumstances and events around Krebs' termination. Krebs concluded after the 2020 race that the election was secure, countering Trump's unfounded claims that it was a "fraud on the American public."
Krebs' agency affirmed the results' security in a statement released nine days after the election with a scathing rebuke in boldfaced type of Trump's claims.
"There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised," it read.
Trump announced in a tweet five days later that Krebs had been "terminated" following the release of a "highly inaccurate" statement about the 2020 election.
In later testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee, Krebs said that he knew of "skepticism" among Trump's allies of his "loyalty to the president."
A small group of those allies in the Presidential Personnel Office made a goal out of identifying and firing people within the administration believed to be disloyal to the former president, The Times reported, landing on Trump-appointed Krebs as one of the defectors.
The loyalist staff members wrote a memo detailing reasons to distrust Krebs, listing a swath of his alleged displays of disloyalty against Trump including: "Wife posted a family photo on Facebook with the 'Biden Harris' logo watermarked at the bottom."
Investigators are probing witnesses about broader efforts, such as a questionnaire for new employees that asked questions like "What part of Candidate Trump's campaign message most appealed to you and why?", to determine loyalty among government officials and potential hires, the sources said.
Smith's team is also looking into how White House officials engaged the Department of Justice, which the sources said Trump turned to for support in his efforts to stay in power following his 2020 loss.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said the subpoena is a "reminder of Trump's efforts to corrupt the federal bureaucracy into a pro-Trump force of loyalists, after his efforts to have DOJ call the election for him failed."
"Trump started by asking the FBI director for a loyalty oath to him personally, not the Constitution," Vance tweeted. "He continued & finished as he started."
