A long-held goal of some of President Donald Trump’s allies appears to be gaining traction as U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones in Miami expands a wide-ranging inquiry into former law enforcement and intelligence officials who investigated Trump. The move aligns with calls from loyalists for what they describe as a sweeping “grand conspiracy” case.
As detailed by The New York Times, Quiñones’s office has issued new subpoenas in recent weeks that broaden the scope of the investigation. The subpoenas seek documents related to the F.B.I.’s inquiry into potential ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia, including materials from former officials who held lower-level roles in the original probe.
The reporting indicates that F.B.I. agents have also interviewed at least one retired agent who took part in 2022 discussions about investigating Trump’s efforts to organize false electors following the 2020 election. Agents conducting the interviews in Washington said they were acting on behalf of Florida-based prosecutors, reflecting coordination across jurisdictions.
The inquiry stretches across multiple Trump-era investigations
Earlier subpoenas issued in November sought documents tied to the January 2017 intelligence community assessment on Russia’s election interference. A second round last month requested similar materials but expanded the relevant date range, signaling a deeper review of how the intelligence findings were assembled. Trump’s public messaging has also remained part of the wider political backdrop, including a De Niro criminal claim.
Trump’s allies have framed the Russia inquiry, the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and the classified documents case as elements of a unified plot against him. The Russia matter largely unfolded in Washington and predates the typical five-year statute of limitations for federal charges, but supporters argue the matters can be linked to the classified documents investigation, which involved the F.B.I.’s August 2022 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
There is no evidence that the three investigations were coordinated as a single effort. Previous reviews, including scrutiny during Trump’s first term, examined the law enforcement and intelligence response to Russia’s 2016 interference.
During his second term, Trump has asserted direct White House control over the Justice Department, pressing for charges against perceived adversaries and removing prosecutors who declined to proceed for lack of evidence. In September, he publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to charge former F.B.I. Director James B. Comey Jr. with perjury before the statute of limitations expired. A successor obtained an indictment after a U.S. attorney was removed, but a judge later dismissed the charges, ruling the prosecutor had been unlawfully appointed.
The January subpoenas reportedly reflected haste, with one reusing language from an earlier document and leaving in an extraneous phrase tied to “preparation of” Russian interference materials. The mistake underscored the speed with which investigators were moving. Investigative tools and data use have been under scrutiny more broadly, including an AI facial recognition arrest.
A central focus of the inquiry appears to involve allegations from Trump allies against former C.I.A. Director John O. Brennan. They contend Brennan made a false statement to Congress in a 2023 deposition regarding the Steele dossier and its treatment in the 2017 intelligence assessment. Brennan has said the C.I.A. opposed including the dossier in the assessment’s main body, and his attorney, Kenneth Wainstein, has maintained that his testimony was accurate.
The expanded subpoena issued in late January came from a grand jury sitting in Miami. Quiñones had previously sought to convene an additional grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, which would have placed related proceedings before U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who previously dismissed the classified documents case against Trump and barred release of a special counsel report tied to it. For now, the reporting indicates that the investigation remains centered in Miami.
Published: Feb 27, 2026 11:15 am