Former President Donald Trump revealed on Tuesday that he has been notified by the Department of Justice of his status as a target of the investigation into the January 6 attack, the first real confirmation that he could face criminal charges for his role in the hourslong siege of Capitol Hill.
Mr Trump wrote in a lengthy statement delivered via his Truth Social platform that special counsel Jack Smith had notified him via letter on Sunday about the development; The Independent had previously reported that Mr Smith was preparing a superseding indictment for the former president related to the Jan 6 attack.
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“On Sunday night, while I was with my family...HORRIFYING NEWS for our country was given to me by my attorneys,” said Mr Trump. “Deranged Jack Smith...sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”
Should Mr Trump face criminal charges related to his efforts to stop Joe Biden’s lawful assumption of power following his own failure to prove his countless conspiratorial allegations of election fraud, it would be the third criminal indictment to come down on the ex-president’s shoulders so far this year. He remains charged with dozens of counts of falsifying business records in New York, as well as facing a similar number of criminal counts at the federal level for his allegedly illegal retention of classified materials and other presidential records.
The ex-president’s statement concluded with a typical refrain about the supposed politicisation and weaponisation of the various law enforcement agencies looking into a wide range of his activities. He and his legal team are separately awaiting an announcement from prosecutors in Georgia regarding whether charges will be filed in that state over their efforts to change Georgia’s 2020 election results.
He would go on to add in a second “truthed” statement: “WITCH HUNT!!! CROOKED JOE BIDEN & HIS INJUSTICE DEPARTMENT WANT TO INDICT & ARREST HIS PRESUMED POLITICAL OPPONENT (ME!), WHO IS LEADING HIM IN THE POLLS IN THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024. SUCH A THING HAS NEVER HAPPENED IN OUR COUNTRY BEFORE…AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CAMPAIGN??? ELECTION INTERFERENCE & PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!!!”
The exact number of charges Mr Trump may face related to the DoJ’s January 6 probe is not yet known, nor is the extent of the criminal accusations he may face. The House’s select committee investigating January 6 previously recommended a handful of charges at the conclusion of their hearings in 2022, including the charge of giving comfort to an insurrection.
But the committee’s recommendation was little more than a suggestion, given that the DoJ was pursuing its own investigation and does not take into account the statements of Congress. Investigators including Attorney General Merrick Garland were, however, thought to be following the committee’s hearings and the testimony of witnesses to the panel.
A source familiar with the special counsel’s probe and Department of Justice operating procedures told The Independent that the earliest an indictment could be handed down is late Thursday or Friday, after the deadline for Mr Trump to avail himself of the invitation to testify before the grand jury has passed.
The onset of new criminal charges against him would likely further add to the strain on Mr Trump’s budget his existing legal problems have already created. His campaign has sought to manage the ex-president’s myriad court cases by funneling money to lawyers through his Save America PAC, the TrumpWorld vessel for outside spending. In the past few months, it was reported by multiple news outlets including The Independent that the Trump campaign had begun quietly diverting a greater share of donations through its WinRed fundraising platform to the PAC.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has been typical tight-lipped as the agency’s January 6 investigation has progressed in recent months, with Mr Garland vowing cryptically in one rare instance of commentary on the probe that his prosecutors would follow the evidence wherever it led.
Any decision to criminally charge the former president (again) would, however, likely lead to a rare break in that silence as the nation’s top law enforcement agency would likely want to offer a brief statement on the decision itself. In the past, Mr Garland has made statements about the case at short news conferences so while declining to answer further questions about it.
Criminal charges for a former president, especially one who remains a leading candidate for the presidency once more, plunge the United States into uncertain territory as the possibility emerges that Mr Trump could both win a 2024 rematch against Joe Biden while being found guilty on one or more of the dozens of counts he faces in two jurisdictions.
There’s no statute in the US Constitution that would prevent Mr Trump from running or even serving as president while under criminal indictment — or even doing so were he to be found guilty.
