The FBI analyzed telephone recordings of more than half a dozen republican legislators as part of an investigation into the efforts of President Trump and his allies to cancel the results of the 2020 elections, according to information published on Monday by GOP senators.
The recordings, which the FBI analyzed in 2023, allowed investigators to see basic information on the date and time of telephone calls, but not the content of the communications, said the senators. The data included several days during the week of January 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the American capitol in a failed offer to stop the certification of election results.
A document dated September 27, 2023, lists nine republican legislators whose files have been examined: Sens. Lindsey Graham de Caroline du Sud, Bill Hagerty de Tennessee, Josh Hawley de Missouri, Dan Sullivan de l’Alaska, Tommy Tuberville d’Alabama, Ron Johnon de Wisconsin, Cyndhia Lummis de Wyoming and Mashburn de Wisconsin, Cyndhia Lummis de Wyoming and de Wisconsin, Cyndhia Lummis of Wyoming and the Blackburn of Wisconsin, Cyndhia Lummis of Wyoming and Mashburn of Wisconsin, Cyndhia Lummis of Wyoming and Mashburn of Wisconsin, Cyntig Tennessee, as well as representative Mike Kellylvania.
The disclosure adds new details to the investigation since closed by the FBI and the former special lawyer of the Ministry of Justice Jack Smith in the marches that Trump took in the perspective of the riot of the Capitol to cancel his electoral loss against the Democrat Joe Biden. Mr. Trump was charged in August 2023 with conspiracy to reverse the results, but The case was abandoned After Mr. Trump’s victory the following year due to a legal opinion from the Ministry of Justice according to which the states that are presidents cannot face federal proceedings.
The assignment of telephone files has been disclosed by several Republican senators, including Chuck Grassley from Iowa, which chairs the judicial committee which supervises the FBI. Grassley said that on September 27, 2023, a commemorating document “preliminary analysis of the toll” was found in response to his request. The investigation measure was authorized by a large jury, the senators said.
Grassley called him “violation of personal property and the rights of people and the law and their constitutional rights”.
The document suggests that the analysis was carried out by an FBI special agent whose name was expurred, and it was authorized by two supervisory agents. He does not say how or why these legislators have been identified or if advice or significant avenues have emerged from this investigation work.
Some of the legislators were part of a group of Republicans who planned to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election. After the vote was disrupted by the rioters on January 6, 2021, most of the legislators appointed in the FBI document voted to certify the results, while Senator Lummis and representative Kelly opposed at least one state.
The special lawyer’s investigation plunged into telephone calls between the legislators and the president in the evening of January 6, 2021, which, according to Smith, was part of a last attempt to speak of the Congress Republicans to block the certification of Biden’s victory. The accusation act in 2023 against Mr. Trump lists several attempts from Mr. Trump and his alleged co-conspirators to reach senators and representatives by telephone. He argued that the president “had tried to exploit the violence and chaos of the Capitol by calling the legislators to convince them, on the basis of false allegations of electoral fraud, to delay certification”.
Last year, a final report written by Smith – which supported The president was reportedly sentenced without his victory in the elections in 2024 – also underlined the telephone calls placed by Mr. Trump and the members of his circle. He cited the toll files of two non-indexed co-conspirators which are not named But are largely raw be Rudy Giuliani and another person.
The senators said they would not conduct their own investigation because they expected that FBI director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino – both Loyalists of Trump – examines the issue. Grassley suggested that more people from the FBI would be dismissed on the investigation, saying: “If the heads do not drive in this city, nothing changes.”
The head of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, said on social networks that he had “serious concerns” concerning the incident.
“I fully support the Senate committees to reach the bottom of this scandalous abuse of power and armament of the government,” said Thune, a southern Dakota republican.
CBS News contacted the Democratic team of the Judicial Committee and the Chief of the Minority of the Senate Chuck Schumer to comment.
The Trump Administration has aimed at Smith’s investigation since its return to functions. The Ministry of Justice has Licensed staff members who worked for Smithand a government organization launched an investigation into Smith for having pretended to participate in illegal political activities during work – allegations Smith lawyers called “Imaginary and unfounded.”
