Washington: A US federal grand jury is investigating former President Donald Trump's Save America fundraising group. The Times reported that the leadership of the political action committee received subpoenas, as the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) looks into the group's spending. Mid- and low-level aids who had been employed in the White House during Trump's presidency were subpoenaed earlier this week.
Trump's office did not respond immediately to requests for any comment on the matter. The former president founded 'Save America' just days after the 2020 elections, in which Trump was defeated by Joe Biden. The political action group has since collected more than $100 million.
The investigation comes just a month after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Earlier, a federal judge in Florida ordered a so-called "special master" to be appointed, in order to examine over 11,000 documents taken from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. The search and seizure were part of a DOJ investigation into whether the former president illegally retained documents on national defense at Mar-a-Lago, and whether he obstructed government moves to get hold of the documents.
Taking to social media, Trump said the FBI raid had turned the US into a "banana republic", rather than a rule-of-law nation. The FBI claimed it had "probable cause" that warranted a raid, as the bureau believed it would find "evidence of obstruction" -- a crime in the US -- at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. (IANS)
