PHILADELPHIA (TNS) — The latest round of subpoenas from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack suggest the panel is deepening its probe of how allies of former President Donald Trump urged legislatures in key swing states to subvert the 2020 election.
But they also shine a spotlight on a leading contender in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for governor: state Sen. Doug Mastriano.
In a letter to Mastriano, the committee demanded documents and testimony regarding his involvement in a plan to send a pro-Trump slate of electors to Congress from Pennsylvania, despite Joe Biden’s victory; his conversations with Trump; and his presence on Capitol grounds the day of the riot.
Mastriano, 58, is a retired Army colonel from Franklin County, in southcentral Pennsylvania. He’s a relative newcomer to politics, having been first elected to the state Senate in 2019. But since then, he’s become one of the highest-profile political figures in Pennsylvania.
He started to gain a following early in the pandemic, as he held rallies outside the statehouse protesting Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus restrictions. And he grew a big audience online with what he called “fireside chats” on his Facebook page, urging his followers to “walk as free people.”
But it wasn’t until the 2020 election that he got national attention.
Mastriano is one of the leading election deniers in Pennsylvania. A day after state officials certified Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania, he organized a legislative meeting in Gettysburg, inviting the public to share allegations of voter fraud.
As in several other swing states Biden won, Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis showed up. Trump himself called in to the meeting from Washington, offering his input via speakerphone: “This election was rigged, and we can’t let that happen.”
Over the past year, Mastriano has continued to spread baseless claims of widespread fraud. In June, he traveled to Arizona to get a firsthand look at the widely discredited partisan election review commissioned by Republican lawmakers there.
Back in Pennsylvania, Mastriano sent letters to three counties, including Philadelphia, demanding voting equipment and virtually all election-related materials as he pursued what he called a “forensic investigation.”
The counties refused to comply, and Mastriano was later stripped of his committee chairmanship by Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, who took control of the review and is now also running for governor.
Mastriano announced his campaign for governor last month at a rally in Gettysburg, where he was joined by Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser and prominent election denier.
He has consistently won the support of about 20% of Republican voters in gubernatorial primary polls, often leading the field, according to GOP insiders who have seen internal data. A public poll released last week by Trafalgar Group showed Mastriano with 19.9%, trailing only former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta. Corman, the next closest candidate, got 5%. More than a dozen Republicans are running.
Mastriano reported having about $550,000 in his campaign account to start the year — more than Barletta but less than several other rivals who are already spending money on TV ads.
The primary election is May 17. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro is the only established Democrat running.
The congressional committee demanded Mastriano turn over relevant materials by March 1 and appear for a deposition on March 10.
The senator’s spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
It remains to be seen whether he will comply. Congress has voted to hold two people in contempt for failing to comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoenas, and the Justice Department has charged one of them, Steve Bannon, with a crime. Bannon pleaded not guilty.
Given the extent to which Republican voters have wrongly come to see the 2020 election as stolen, it’s possible that being subpoenaed will only improve Mastriano’s prospects in the primary.
