WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that federal prosecutors have told his legal team that he is a target of their investigation into efforts by him and his allies to overturn the 2020 election and keep him in power.
Trump said in a statement released on his Truth Social platform that his attorneys were told in a letter from the Justice Department on Sunday night that he was the focus of the investigation and that he had four days to respond to the federal grand jury weighing an indictment.
“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, 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,” Trump said in the post.
It’s the clearest sign yet that special counsel Jack Smith is close to seeking an indictment of Trump, though it’s unclear what charges he’s considering and whether others will be indicted. So-called target letters typically precede an indictment.
A spokesman for Smith declined to comment. The special counsel normally does not comment before charges are brought.
The sweeping investigation touches on the weeks-long effort by Trump and his allies to contest the election results after then-former Vice President Joe Biden won.
Smith’s team has scrutinized fundraising off Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud after the election and around the Jan. 6 rallies, along with the coordinated effort to enlist fake electors in states Biden won to send certificates to the librarian of Congress falsely stating that Trump had won. Smith is also focused on a December 2020 Oval Office meeting regarding an executive order to seize voting machines, the pressure put on state leaders and former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election results, and Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, while a mob was attacking the Capitol.
State and local elections officials in battleground states, including in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin, have spoken with investigators as part of the probe. The grand jury has heard testimony from some of those closest to Trump, including his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Trump received a similar target letter shortly before Smith, who was appointed in November by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, charged the former president last month with intentionally holding on to classified information after leaving office and failing to comply with a subpoena to return the documents. Trump was charged with 37 criminal counts covering seven different violations of federal law, including the Espionage Act. He has pleaded not guilty.
The FBI recovered the records during an August search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump’s lawyers are scheduled to appear in a Florida court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing about the timing of the case and how the classified records will be handled. The government has requested that the trial begin in December. Trump’s lawyers have asked for an indefinite postponement, saying in court documents that a trial would interfere with his ability to campaign ahead of the 2024 election.
Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination and has attempted to cast his potential legal issues as an attempt to damage him politically.
In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote that “they have now effectively indicted me three times ... with a probably fourth coming from Atlanta” and added in capital letters: “This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total (political) weaponization of law enforcement!”
Trump also faces a potential indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, regarding efforts to pressure state officials to “find” the votes needed for him to win the key state in the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Atlanta has indicated an indictment decision will be made before Sept. 1.
In a unanimous opinion, the Georgia Supreme Court this week rejected Trump’s efforts to block Willis’ investigation into 2020 election interference.
Trump was indicted in April in New York City on charges related to an alleged hush-money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 campaign.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy responded to news of the target letter by telling reporters that the Biden administration is seeking to “weaponize government to go after their No. 1 opponent. It’s time and time again. I think the American public is tired of this.”
