(WASHINGTON) — The FBI sought to interview a current top adviser to former President Donald Trump who has also been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury, both in relation to investigations into the events leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
William Russell wasn’t home when the two FBI agents came to his house Wednesday morning, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Russell served in the Trump White House as a special assistant to the president and the deputy director of advance before moving down to Florida to work as an aide to Trump after he left the White House.
Russell has also been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating Jan. 6, sources familiar with the matter said. The subpoena requests documents and communications related to the so-called fake slates of electors pushed in various states in support of Trump, the sources said.
The outreach to Russell shows that federal investigators are seeking to question Trump’s inner circle, sources said; and the subpoena indicates the grand jury’s work is widening as law enforcement continues to probe the events surrounding the attack on the Capitol and Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The attempted interview was first reported by The New York Times.
Russell and the FBI have not commented.
Investigators with the House Jan. 6 committee have also requested information and communications from Russell in recent weeks, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
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