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Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has been told that he is a target in special counsel Jack Smith’s probe of the Jan. 6, 2021, violence at the U.S. Capitol.
In a letter shared on social media, Trump said he learned he was a target on Sunday. The notification from the Justice Department indicates he is likely to be indicted on charges related to the investigation, The New York Times reported. Trump acknowledged the expectation on Tuesday, writing that officials gave him “a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”
The former president, who is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, repeated claims that the investigation is politically motivated, writing that Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department “have effectively issued a third Indictment and Arrest of Joe Biden’s NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT.”
Under Justice Department policy, prosecutors are encouraged to notify people targeted by investigations before seeking an indictment to give them the chance to testify before the grand jury.
It was not clear Tuesday what charges Trump might face. Late last year, the House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, sent four criminal referrals against Trump to the Justice Department for charges including obstruction of an official proceeding and inciting, assisting or giving aid or comfort to an insurrection.
Trump has long denied wrongdoing related to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, which prompted his second impeachment shortly before the end of his term in office in 2021. The Senate later acquitted him of inciting the violence at the Capitol.
The former president is already facing separate charges in Smith’s investigation related to his handling of classified records. Prosecutors in New York have also charged him with falsifying business records in a case connected with hush money payments made to an adult film star, a former Playboy model and a Trump Tower doorman before the 2016 presidential election.
Garland named Smith as special counsel overseeing investigations involving Trump in November.
The former president is also facing possible charges in Georgia, where authorities have been investigating attempts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.
©2023 Cox Media Group
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