The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 US Capitol insurrection subpoenaed more than a dozen individuals on Friday for their attempts to declare former US President Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election in seven swing states.

The panel is demanding information and testimony from 14 people who allegedly met and submitted false Electoral College certificates declaring Trump as the winner of in the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, despite President Biden winning all seven states.

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“We believe the individuals we have subpoenaed today have information about how these so-called alternate electors met and who was behind that scheme,” said Representative Bennie Thompson, commenting on the subpoenas.

“We encourage them to cooperate with the Select Committee’s investigation to get answers about January 6th for the American people and help ensure nothing like that day ever happens again,” he added.

The Republicans who have been subpoenaed are Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino from Arizona, David Shafer and Shawn Still from Georgia, Kathy Berden and Mayra Rodriguez from Michigan, Jewll Powdrell and Deborah Maestas from New Mexico, Michael McDonald and James DeGraffenreid from Nevada, Bill Bachenberg and Lisa Patton from Pennsylvania, and Andrew Hitt and Kelly Ruh from Wisconsin.

The nine-member panel of the House Select Committee said it has obtained information that groups of individuals met on Dec. 14, 2020 — more than a month after Election Day — in the seven states. The individuals, according to the congressional investigation, then submitted fake slates of Electoral College votes for Trump. Then “alternate electors” from those seven states sent those certificates to Congress, where several of Trump’s advisers used them to justify delaying or blocking the certification of the election during the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.

The subpoenaed persons will have to submit relevant documents to the committee on February 11, and will have to appear for depositions throughout the month of February.

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It is largely believed that former President Donald Trump’s inflammatory comments of election fraud sparked the deadly insurrection on the US Capitol, which was stormed by pro-Trump supporters as a joint session of the Congress was underway to confirm Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 US Presidential Elections.

The riots left five people dead and several injured and shook the United States to its very foundations.

Subsequently, an investigation was launched to uncover the truth behind the insurrection, and the investigation is being headed by the House Select Committee.

As of January 6, 2021, a year since the incident rocked Washington DC, more than 725 arrests had been made in connection with the insurrection, while at least 225 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding.

However, the Committee is still continuing its investigation, and has, of late, tried to rope in people from Trump’s inner circle to uncover the truth.

[With inputs from AP]