More than 30 in Trump's Circle issues Subpoenas

In a sweeping weekend, the DOJ has issued more than 30 subpoaenas to Trump's circle

Trump left his golf outing in NJ, still in his golf shoes and shirt, to rush to DC Sunday

Justice Department subpoena storm broadens Trump's potential legal woes

A strikingly broad subpoena sweep against more than 30 former officials and campaign aides of ex-President Donald Trump represents the clearest sign yet of the seriousness of the Department of Justice's criminal probe into events surrounding the US Capitol insurrection.

The gambit, revealed on Monday, also shows that while Trump may succeed in slowing a separate investigation into the retention of classified information at Mar-a-Lago, his potential exposure to legal consequences is deep and threatening. Trump has not been charged with a crime in either probe.

But the subpoenas show that the DOJ's investigation, which has proceeded behind the scenes for months and caused Trump critics to express frustration with Attorney General Merrick Garland, is far more expansive than was previously known. And it appears to be intensifying, with investigators apparently narrowing their focus based on other subpoenas, evidence and witness testimony.

This is the way classic investigations are conducted, moving up the chain so to speak," David Laufman, former chief of the Justice Department's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, told CNN's Erin Burnett Monday.

They are now encompassing individuals closer and closer to the President to learn more and more about what the President knew and when he knew it."

The twice-impeached former President has typically been successful at wriggling free of legal scrutiny and scandals that would long have ended the careers of conventional politicians. But it is clear that he is facing legal concerns on multiple fronts, some related to his attempt to overthrow the result of the 2020 election, and all in some ways arising from his view that as president, and even back in civilian life, his position granted him almost unlimited power free of scrutiny.

New indications of the DOJ's interest in post-election intrigue

News of the more than 30 new subpoenas for documents and some for testimony before a grand jury suggest the DOJ is investigating a scheme to create slates of fake electors to invalidate President Joe Biden's wins in swing states in 2020. There are also indications that prosecutors are looking at Trump's fundraising operation and the way that the ex-President's January 6, 2021, "Stop the Steal" rally was organized, according to new information reported by CNN, some of which was first revealed by The New York Times.