Special counsel Jack Smith has reportedly secured the cooperation of two would-be Trump electors as part of his investigation into the efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Smith has reportedly granted two members of the slate partial immunity, CNN reported, citing sources. The special counsel has already indicted former President Donald Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, but the Jan. 6 probe remains a largely separate effort by his office. It remains unclear if Trump himself is a target in that investigation.
The outlet reported that the prosecutors on the case have recently “played hardball” with witnesses in a bid to secure their speedy testimony before the end of June.
One source told the outlet that at least one other witness has also spoken to investigators in the past two weeks in exchange for not facing prosecution.
At least six witnesses testified before the grand jury organized in Washington, D.C., during four days in the past two weeks, many of them centered around the fake electors plan.
CNN also reported that the two witnesses given immunity for testifying before the grand jury were Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald and Nevada Republican Party official Jim DeGraffenreid. Attorneys for both of them declined to comment to CNN.
At issue is a fake elector scheme in which supporters of the former president claimed Trump won key battlegrounds that broke for now-President Joe Biden and asserted they were the rightful electors.
Trump and his allies have claimed that the election was mired in voter fraud and that the contest was “stolen.”
