Some of the 16 GeorgiaRepublicans who signed a fake electoral vote certificate that was sent to the National Archives are cooperating with a criminal investigation into former president Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

       According to CNN, “several individuals” who served as fake electors on a document submitted to the archives by Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer have spoken to prosecutors with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office as part of a probe into whether Mr Trump broke Georgia election law during his push to install himself in the White House for a second term against the wishes of American voters.

       Specifically, Ms Willis’ office “appears to be trying to determine whether the pro-Trump electors in Georgia had any knowledge that their actions may have been a component of a broader and potentially illegal plot to pressure election officials and overturn Joe Biden’s victory”.

       CNN also reported that the fake Trump electors who’ve met with prosecutors have been “reassured” that Ms Willis’ office considers them witnesses, not subjects or targets of the investigation.

       But Ms Willis’ probe is not the only investigation into the fake elector scheme, which was also carried out by Republicans in six other states won by Mr Biden — Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — and appear to have been part of a plan put forth by Trump allies to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence into unilaterally discarding the legitimate electoral votes for Mr Biden from those states.

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       The Department of Justice is also probing the fake elector plot, and a Washington, DC grand jury has reportedly issued subpoenas as part of that investigation.

       Additionally, the House of Representatives select committee investigating the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol has issued subpoenas to a number of people involved in the plot as part of its investigation into whether Mr Trump’s push to overturn his loss to Mr Biden contributed to the attack on the Capitol on January 6.

       The committee is set to reveal its findings in a series of public hearings beginning next month.