WASHINGTON (AP) xe2x80x94 Further expanding its probe, the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas to six additional associates of former President Donald Trump who were closely involved in his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.

The committeexe2x80x99s chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said in a statement Monday that the panel is demanding testimony and documents from former Trump campaign officials and others who participated in a xe2x80x9cwar roomxe2x80x9d ahead of the siege and strategized about how to halt the certification of Joe Bidenxe2x80x99s victory.

Thompson said the committee had issued new subpoenas to Bill Stepien, manager of Trumpxe2x80x99s 2020 reelection campaign; Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the campaign; Angela McCallum, national executive assistant to the campaign; John Eastman, a lawyer who advised the former president; Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser to Trump who talked with Trump ahead of the insurrection; and Bernard Kerik, who the committee says paid for hotel rooms that served as command centers ahead of Jan. 6.

xe2x80x9cIn the days before the January 6th attack, the former presidentxe2x80x99s closest allies and advisers drove a campaign of misinformation about the election and planned ways to stop the count of Electoral College votes,xe2x80x9d Thompson said. xe2x80x9cThe Select Committee needs to know every detail about their efforts to overturn the election, including who they were talking to in the White House and in Congress, what connections they had with rallies that escalated into a riot, and who paid for it all.xe2x80x9d

The subpoenas come after the panel has already demanded documents and testimony from several other Trump advisers xe2x80x94 some who have cooperated and some who have not. The House voted last month to hold longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt after he refused to comply with his subpoena. Trump himself is fighting the probe in court.

The rioters who violently pushed back police to break into the Capitol and interrupt the electoral count repeated Trumpxe2x80x99s false claims of widespread fraud, and the committee says the six newly subpoenaed witnesses helped amplify the misinformation in the days ahead of the attack. Trumpxe2x80x99s false claims came as election officials and courts across the country verified Bidenxe2x80x99s win, and as his own attorney general said there was no evidence of significant fraud.

Thompson says in the letters to the Trump associates that the panel has uncovered xe2x80x9ccredible evidencexe2x80x9d of their participation in the former presidentxe2x80x99s efforts to overturn the election and cites ways that they individually tried to further his cause.

In Stepienxe2x80x99s subpoena, Thompson cites the testimony of an unnamed witness in saying he oversaw the xe2x80x9cconversionxe2x80x9d of Trumpxe2x80x99s presidential campaign to a xe2x80x9cStop the Stealxe2x80x9d effort. In letters to Miller and McCallum, Thompson cites specific efforts to spread the false claims, including a phone call from McCallum to an unidentified Michigan state legislator asking if the Trump campaign could xe2x80x9ccount onxe2x80x9d them and urging the person to push for the appointment of new state electors.

Thompson detailed several efforts by Eastman, a lawyer and professor, to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to try to overturn the election as he presided over the congressional certification xe2x80x94 a power Pence did not legally have. Thompson also cites Eastmanxe2x80x99s outreach to states, including a briefing to state legislators, and his participation in the so-called xe2x80x9cwar roomxe2x80x9d at the Willard Hotel where he, Bannon, Kerik and others strategized ahead of the siege about how to overturn Trumpxe2x80x99s defeat.

Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner who was pardoned by Trump after serving time in prison for tax fraud and other charges, responded to his subpoena with a lengthy statement on Monday evening. He said that he xe2x80x9cwas not hired to overturn the will of the people, only to look into the integrity of the processxe2x80x9d and that his focus after the election was on xe2x80x9clooking for evidence,xe2x80x9d not public relations.

xe2x80x9cAs to the events of January 6th, I was not involved,xe2x80x9d he said.

The others contacted by The Associated Press did not respond to requests for comment.

In the letter to Flynn xe2x80x94 the former national security adviser who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and was also pardoned by Trump xe2x80x94 Thompson cited a December Oval Office meeting with the then-president. Citing media reports, Thompson said Flynn and other participants xe2x80x9cdiscussed seizing voting machines, declaring a national emergency, invoking certain national security emergency powers and continuing to spread the message that the Nov. 2020 election had been tainted by widespread fraud.xe2x80x9d

The panel is working with other close Trump advisers to gain testimony, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and administration aides Kashyap Patel and Dan Scavino. Members of the committee said they have been xe2x80x9cengagingxe2x80x9d with those witnesses but may move to hold them in contempt, as well, if they donxe2x80x99t comply soon.

Trumpxe2x80x99s own opposition has prompted some of his advisors, including Bannon, to say they canxe2x80x99t speak publicly about their roles. The former presidentxe2x80x99s lawsuit argues that he can assert executive privilege, or a presidential claim to keep some information private, in an effort to block the government from releasing a tranche of internal White House documents to the panel. The committee has argued that privilege doesnxe2x80x99t apply.

President Biden has so far waived executive privilege on nearly all the documents that the committee has asked for, citing the panelxe2x80x99s need to investigate the violent attack.

In his subpoena to Eastman, Thompson sought to preemptively attack any attorney-client privilege that he may attempt to cite to avoid testifying. The letter noted that Eastman has already xe2x80x9cmade extensive public commentsxe2x80x9d regarding his legal advice and direct discussions with Trump.

Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who aligned himself with Trumpxe2x80x99s efforts to overturn the election as other department leaders pushed back, appeared for a deposition on Friday but declined to cooperate, presenting the committee with a letter saying he would not answer questions based on Trumpxe2x80x99s assertions of privilege, including in the ongoing court case.

Thompson said afterward that he had rejected the claims of privilege and said Clark xe2x80x9chas a very short timexe2x80x9d to reconsider and cooperate.

The committee has already interviewed more than 150 people across government, social media and law enforcement, including some former Trump aides who have been cooperative. The panel has subpoenaed more than 20 witnesses total, and most of them, including several associates who helped plan the massive xe2x80x9cStop the Stealxe2x80x9d rally the morning of the 6th, have signaled they will cooperate.

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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

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