Deadline passes in GOP's Pennsylvania election 'investigation' subpoena

HARRISBURG — The deadline passed Friday for Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to comply with a subpoena from a Republican-controlled state Senate committee pursuing what the GOP calls a “forensic investigation” of last year’s presidential election, as a state court sorted through three legal challenges.

Wolf’s administration and Senate Republicans remained silent in the matter. The court was expected to set up an expedited briefing schedule in one or all of the cases.

Challengers, including Senate Democrats and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, have sought broadly to block the subpoena, saying it is an abuse of legislative power, and in particular have challenged its request for the driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers of roughly 9 million registered voters.

Republicans maintain that they are attempting to find and fix problems in last year’s presidential election and this year’s primary election. Democrats accuse them of helping perpetuate the “big lie” of baseless claims that former President Donald Trump was cheated out of victory.

It’s not clear whether Wolf’s administration can be forced to comply with a subpoena.