WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors have issued additional subpoenas as part of a Florida investigation examining how the United States responded to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race, sources familiar with the matter tell news outlets.
The first round of subpoenas sent in November demanded documents concerning the creation of a U.S. intelligence report that detailed Moscow’s efforts to assist Trump in defeating Hillary Clinton during the 2016 contest.
While the initial document requests focused on materials from around the time the Obama administration released its intelligence report in January 2017, the newer subpoenas are seeking any documentation from the years that followed, according to sources who requested anonymity when discussing the confidential investigative demands.
Justice Department officials refused to provide comment on Tuesday.
Multiple former intelligence and law enforcement leaders have received subpoenas, and attorneys representing former CIA Director John Brennan, who supervised the intelligence report’s creation, have confirmed he has been designated as a target.
The Trump administration has renewed its examination of the intelligence community’s assessment partly because its classified edition included portions of the “Steele dossier,” which contained opposition research funded by Democrats and compiled by ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele before being shared with the FBI. The research examining Trump’s possible connections to Russia contained unverified claims and scandalous allegations, which Trump has repeatedly cited as evidence that the entire Russia probe was flawed.
The Florida-based investigation seems to be connected to wider administration efforts to reexamine conclusions and choices made during the Russia investigation years ago.
A publicly released CIA analysis published last July by current Director John Ratcliffe did not challenge the finding that Russia interfered in the election but identified “multiple procedural anomalies” in the intelligence assessment and criticized Brennan for including references to the Steele dossier in the classified version.
Whether the Florida investigation will lead to criminal charges remains uncertain.
In correspondence sent last December to the chief judge of the Southern District of Florida, Brennan’s legal team contested the investigation’s foundation, asking what justification prosecutors had for launching the probe in that jurisdiction and stating they had received no explanation from prosecutors regarding what potential violations were under investigation.
