Federal grand jury investigates Trump's Save America PAC

Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The Justice Department has opened a probe into a political action committee opened by former President Donald Trump following his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

A federal grand jury investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol has issued subpoenas to several individuals seeking information about Trump's Save America PAC, ABC News, The New York Times and Politico reported.

The subpoenas showed the Justice Department is interested in the inner workings of Save America, specifically seeking to understand the timeline of its formation, fundraising activities and how it receives and spends money.

Save America's statement of organization filing to the Federal Election Commission says the committee was established days after the 2020 election and is affiliated with the Trump campaign and Trump Make America Great Committee. The small-dollar-focused, joint-fundraising committee between the president's campaign and the Republican National Committee has sent out donor solicitation emails on behalf of Save America.

The PAC can only accept donations of up to $5,000 per donor, well below the more than $800,000 donations previously raised by Trump Victory a high-dollar joint fundraising committee between Trump's campaign and the Republican Party.

Trump and his allies have regularly used claims about fraud in the 2020 election and investigations into Trump's actions surrounding the election and the Capitol riots, as well as his business dealings to solicit donations for Save America.

Following the FBI's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home last month, Save America sent out a fundraising email urging the former president's supporters to "rush in a donation IMMEDIATELY to publicly stand with me against this NEVERENDING WITCH HUNT."

During a hearing held by the House select committee investigating the Capitol riots, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said the campaign raised $250 million after the election by claiming they were combatting election fraud.

"Throughout the committee's investigation, we found evidence that the Trump campaign and its surrogates misled donors as to where their funds would go and what they would be used for. So not only was there the big lie, there was the big rip-off," Lofgren said. "Donors deserve to know where their funds are really going. They deserve better than what President Trump and his team did."