Trump PAC paid nearly half a million to law firms representing allies subpoenaed by Jan. 6 committee

Former President Donald Trump's political action committee has paid nearly half a million dollars to multiple law firms that employ attorneys representing close allies of Trump who have been targeted by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol attack, according to a review of financial records by ABC News -- an arrangement that committee members say raises concerns about the possible coercion of witnesses.

Trump's Save America PAC began paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to multiple law firms and lawyers connected to his allies in the committee's crosshairs after the panel was first formed last summer, and continued the payments as the committee's investigation began issuing subpoenas throughout the year, according to multiple sources and a review of Federal Election Commission filings.

ABC News has identified payments to at least five law firms that are connected to lawyers representing Trump allies subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee, totaling $471,000. None of the firms were paid by the PAC prior to the committee's formation last summer, according to FEC reports. The payments continued until as recently as May of this year.

While the disclosure reports show Save America's payments to these firms, the documents don't show which specific lawyers the payments are intended for, or who the firms are representing.

Key allies of the former president whose attorney's firms have received payments by Trump's PAC include former White House aides Stephen Bannon and Peter Navarro, as well as his former special assistant Dan Scavino -- all of whom have engaged in fierce legal battles with the committee in an effort to block their cooperation.

This week, a member of the Jan. 6 committee suggested that allies of Trump could be attempting to coerce committee witnesses by paying for their lawyers using money raised off of false election claims.

"We talked about the hundreds of millions of dollars that the former president raised, some of that money is being used to pay for lawyers for witnesses," Rep. Zoe Lofgren said on CNN. "And it's not clear that that arrangement is one that is without coercion, potentially, for some of those witnesses."