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Special counsel wants documents on Trump, numerous campaign associates

In addition to the president, the subpoena seeks documents involving Corey Lewandowski, Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks and Paul Manafort, among others.
Image: Robert Mueller departs after a closed-door meeting
Special counsel Robert Mueller after a meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Russian meddling in Washington in June 2017.J. Scott Applewhite / AP file

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include the fact that the subpoena was received by Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign adviser.

WASHINGTON — The grand jury investigating alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign has sent a witness a subpoena seeking all documents involving the president and a host of his closest advisers, according to a copy of the subpoena received by former adviser Sam Nunberg and reviewed by NBC News.

According to the subpoena, which was sent to Nunberg by special counsel Robert Mueller, investigators want emails, text messages, work papers, telephone logs and other documents going back to Nov. 1, 2015, 4½ months after Trump launched his campaign.

The news site Axios reported Sunday that a subpoena was sent to a witness last month.

NBC News reported last week that Mueller's team is asking pointed questions about whether Trump knew about hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign before the public found out. The subpoena indicates that Mueller may be focused not just on what Trump campaign aides knew and when they knew it, but also on what Trump himself knew.

In addition to the president, the subpoena seeks documents that have anything to do with these current and former Trump associates:

  • Steve Bannon, who left the White House as chief strategist in August.
  • Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for Trump who testified before congressional investigators in October.
  • Rick Gates, Trump's former deputy campaign manager, who pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy and lying to the FBI.
  • Hope Hicks, who resigned last week as Trump's communications director.
  • Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager until June 2016.
  • Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager and Gates' business partner, who pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and making false statements last week.
  • Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide.
  • Keith Schiller, a former bodyguard for Trump who left as director of Oval Office operations in September.
  • Roger Stone, a longtime Republican political operative and Trump campaign adviser who sources have told NBC News is the focus of investigators interested in his contacts with WikiLeaks during the campaign.

Once Hicks' resignation takes effect in the next few weeks, Cohen will be the only person listed in the subpoena who hasn't left the employment of Trump or of the White House.

Katy Tur reported from Washington, and Alex Johnson from Los Angeles.

CORRECTION (March 5, 2018, 12:28 a.m. ET): The headline on an earlier version of this article misstated the recipient of Mueller's subpoena. The subpoena seeking all documents involving President Donald Trump and a host of his closest advisers was given to a witness, not to the president himself.