Two dozen Trump aides and Mar-a-Lago staff subpoenaed in special counsel classified documents investigation

At least two dozen people close to Donald Trump, ranging from inner circle aides to staff members at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, have been subpoeanaed as part of the special counsel investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents, CNN reports.

“They’re casting an extremely wide net – anyone and everyone who might have seen something,” an anonmyous source familiar with the investigation told the broadcaster.

Investigators have spoken with a Mar-a-Lago staff member seen on security footage moving boxes and called Trump adviser Margo Martin to appear before a grand jury in Washington on Thursday, CNN adds.

The Independent has contacted Mr Trump and Ms Martin for comment.

Federal officials have been investigating Mr Trump’s conduct at the Florida estate since the summer of 2022, when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago in August and uncovered numerous documents marked classified, following a lengthy back-and-forth in which the former president allegedly failed to comply with federal archivists.

Multiple members of the former president’s legal team appeared before a grand jury in January as part of the the special counsel probe, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The news of the alleged subpoenas comes just a day after it was reported that a grand jury in Georgia heard a previously unknown phone call of Donald Trump attempting to pressure then-state House Speaker David Ralston to convene a special session of the legislature to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 election win in the state.

A special session was never called, though Republicans in the state did organise a plan to serve as unauthorised fake electors and cast their votes in the Electoral College for Donald Trump, even though Mr Biden won the state’s vote.

Both developments speak to the wide-ranging legal troubles the former president has faced since leaving office.

In addition to probing Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, a federal special counsel is also investigating aspects of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 election election results.

Outside of the special counsel effort, Mr Trump could also face criminal charges from the investigation in Georgia, as well as two separate probes ongoing in New York looking into the president’s hush money payment to an adult film star during the 2016 campaign and the business practices of the Trump Organization.