The Department of Justice (DOJ) is expanding its probe of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack to include the events leading up to the preceding rally, and the wider conspiracies that fueled the violence, people familiar with the issue told The Washington Post.
Before supporters of former President Trump attacked the Capitol, many participated in a rally that had multiple speakers, including Trump himself.
Sources told the Post the DOJ is now looking to the planning of the rally and the conspiracy theories that surrounded the event.
The rally was based around the false claims that Trump won the 2020 presidential election and that election fraud was the reason President Biden won.
The DOJ has begun issuing subpoenas to investigate the funding and planning of the event as well as who was involved. People familiar with the issue told the Post the subpoenas were issued against those in Trump’s circle but would not say what they requested or who received them.
Investigations into the rally could include how protesters got the money to go to Washington, D.C., and who was behind the planning of the incident.
Hundreds have been arrested over their roles in Jan. 6 riot, which led to multiple deaths and destruction of the Capitol, in one of the largest criminal investigations in the U.S.
The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.