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Former US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he received a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith stating that he is the target of a grand jury investigation in efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
If so, it would mark the clearest sign yet that Trump could face federal criminal charges stemming from his efforts to stay in power after losing the election to his rival, President Joe Biden.
The officials testified that during his final months in office, Trump pressed them with baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud. His supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to prevent Congress from certifying a Biden victory.
“Smith sent a message (again, it was Sunday night!) saying I’m being targeted for a grand jury investigation on January 6th,” Trump wrote on his Truth social media site.
His lawyer could not be reached for comment.
A spokesman for Smith’s office declined to comment.
Receiving a target letter, Peter Zidenberg, said an individual should “assume you are going to be indicted, unless you give us good reason why we should not.”
Later on Tuesday, defense attorneys and federal prosecutors are scheduled to appear for the first time in Florida before US District Judge Eileen Cannon, who is presiding over charges that Trump mishandled classified information and obstructed justice.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to take on Biden, the Democrat, in the 2024 election, was accused last month of illegally keeping national defense documents after he left office in 2021 and conspiring to block government efforts to get them back.
Smith is also leading the prosecution in this case. As part of the 2020 election investigation, a grand jury in federal court in Washington, D.C., heard testimony from former senior Trump administration officials, former White House attorney Pat Cipollone, and Vice President Trump Mike Pence.
Recently, investigators from Smith’s office interviewed Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani.
In a January 6, 2021 rampage at the Capitol, Trump supporters used weapons including chemical sprayers and riot shields to attack police and storm the building, forcing lawmakers who were in the process of certifying the results of the 2020 election to flee. their lives. The attack came shortly after Trump told his supporters in an incendiary speech near the White House to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell” to “stop stealing” the election. More than 1,000 people were charged with offenses related to the riot, including some who were convicted of sedition conspiracy.
In his Truth Social post, Trump said Smith’s office gave him “a very short period of 4 days” to appear before the grand jury in the investigation.
In federal investigations, targets who are not called to testify before a grand jury or who do not make such a request are sometimes given an opportunity to do so before prosecutors seek to file an indictment.
Trump is the first former president ever to be charged.
In addition to the charges in the classified documents case, Trump faces New York state criminal charges accusing him of falsifying business records related to paying porn star Stormy Daniels to purchase her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she confirmed but denies.
He has pleaded not guilty in either case.
On Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected Trump’s attempt to block a government investigation into whether he and his allies illegally attempted to interfere in the 2020 Georgia election. Among the actions investigated was Trump’s phone call that prodded a top election official on “finding” enough votes to overturn Biden’s statewide victory.
Trump’s Republican allies rushed to his defense on Tuesday in response to the news of the targeted speech.
“There is example after example after example of the Biden administration arming the government against its political enemies,” House Majority Leader Steve Scales told reporters.
Republican strategist Matt Dole said any indictment would likely help Trump raise money, given that his base would view any accusations as politically motivated. But he said the cumulative effect of the lawsuits against Trump could deter some moderate Republicans and hinder his chances in the general election. “I think it gives cool Trump supporters pause and a reason to look elsewhere for a candidate with Trump’s populism, but less of a circus—someone like Ron DeSantis,” Dole said.
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