Former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed in connection with a wide-ranging investigation being run by a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in Florida, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The probe, which focuses on an earlier investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and other prosecutions related to President Donald Trump, is being led by Jason A. Reding Qui\u00f1ones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. The sprawling probe has been dubbed a \u201cgrand conspiracy\u201d investigation by Trump allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An attorney for Comey did not have an immediate comment, while Qui\u00f1ones\u2019 office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Axios first reported on Comey\u2019s subpoena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NBC News reported in August that Attorney General Pam Bondi directed Justice Department prosecutors to investigate actions surrounding the 2016 election. While the statute of limitations would normally bar a probe into actions from a decade ago, Trump allies have argued that officials they believe were part of a conspiracy took steps in furtherance of a conspiracy within the five-year statute of limitations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 130 subpoenas have been sent out in connection with the investigation, one of the sources told NBC News on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal prosecutors have wide discretion when it comes to subpoenas, which can seek either records or testimony. Federal grand jury subpoenas are typically issued by federal prosecutors without judicial oversight or direct involvement of federal grand jurors. While the subpoenas are issued under court authority, it\u2019s only when a recipient of a subpoena files a motion to quash a subpoena \u2014 as the Federal Reserve did \u2014 that a judge reviews the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration previously attempted to prosecute Comey over testimony he gave to Congress, but the case was dismissed when a judge ruled that the prosecutor, Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed to her DOJ post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Justice Department appealed the ruling, in which a federal judge described Halligan as \u201ca former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience,\u201d and defended Halligan\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n