TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris received a grand jury subpoena from federal investigators but kept it from her top campaign advisers, leading to the latest round of staff departures last month, a former aide said.
"Yes, there was a subpoena. She didn't tell us," former campaign manager Glenn Hodas told The Tampa Tribune for a story published Wednesday.
Hodas, who resigned from the Republican congresswoman's Senate campaign in July along with the spokesman, did not immediately return phone calls Wednesday from The Associated Press.
The Justice Department is investigating Harris' dealings with Mitchell Wade, a defense contractor who later pleaded guilty to bribing another congressman. Hodas did not say whether the subpoena was linked to that probe.
Harris' campaign has not acknowledged that she received a subpoena. In an earlier statement, Harris said she is cooperating with the investigation but is "not a target." Calls to Harris campaign staffers were not immediately returned Wednesday.
The Department of Justice does not comment on pending investigations.
Hodas told the paper he learned of the subpoena in June while reviewing invoices and confronted his boss. The invoices, Hodas said, were for work relating to a "DOJ subpoena," referring to the Department of Justice.
"Finding out about the subpoena caused me to wonder about what was going on and what else I didn't know," Hodas told the Tribune. "But I don't want to comment any further on what appears to be a pending investigation."
Harris has said that she wasn't aware of the illegal contributions and that she was only trying to bring high-wage jobs to her district when she tried to help Wade's company, MZM Inc., get a federal contract.
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