WASHINGTON (AP) - The high state election official in New Mexico has spoken with federal prosecutors as a part of the particular counsel’s probe into the 2020 election, the official’s spokesman stated Friday.

The assembly with New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver occurred someday previously few months, in line with spokesman Alex Curtas, who declined additional remark.

The Justice Department has spent months analyzing strain campaigns by Trump associates aimed toward getting battleground states gained by Democrat Joe Biden to undo the outcomes of their elections. Special counsel Jack Smith and his group have issued subpoenas to election officers in states that Trump disputed, in search of correspondence from Trump associates and marketing campaign aides, and have additionally lined up interviews in latest months with state officers.

The communications with state officers are one prong of a a lot larger probe by Smith and his group into efforts to dam the switch of energy from Trump to Biden. It just isn't clear when Smith’s investigation into the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot may finish or whether or not anybody is likely to be charged.

A spokesman for Smith declined to touch upon Friday.

It’s unknown what questions had been requested of Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat in her second time period, in regards to the 2020 election in New Mexico.

After Biden gained the state by almost 11 share factors, Trump’s marketing campaign briefly challenged the leads to court docket earlier than dropping the lawsuit. Republicans within the state submitted false Electoral College certificates declaring Trump the winner – although the pretend electors added a caveat saying the certificates had been submitted in case they had been later acknowledged as duly elected, certified electors.

Although Democrats management each statewide elected workplace in New Mexico, with majorities within the Statehouse, false claims of fraud and manipulation of voting machines in 2020 have resonated in some politically conservative communities, together with Otero County, the place commissioners in June 2022 initially refused to certify election outcomes.

Former Otero County commissioner and Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin was barred final yr from holding public workplace for participating in revolt on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have additionally spoken with officers from Smith’s workplace in latest months, in line with their staffs.

Kathy Boockvar, the chief state election official in Pennsylvania in the course of the 2020 election, stated Friday she has not been requested for an interview.

It was not presently clear whether or not state officers overseeing elections in 2020 in Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin – different states disputed by Trump — have met with investigators.

Efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his loss in Georgia are additionally the topic of a separate investigation in Atlanta’s Fulton County with native prosecutors saying they anticipate a call later this summer season on subsequent steps. It was in a Jan. 2, 2021, cellphone name that Trump instructed Raffensperger may assist “find” the votes essential to reverse Biden’s win.

___

Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press author Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC.

Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com