WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has been notified that he is the target of an investigation by a Washington-based grand jury examining the Jan. 6 riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“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 posted on his Truth Social account.
Trump said that this effectively means that he will be indicted for a third time. Trump added that he’s “Joe Biden’s NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT, who is largely dominating him in the race for the Presidency.”
It was not immediately clear what the charges are or whether anyone else received a target letter. People who have been informed that they are targets of criminal probes are often, but not always, indicted.
Trump said his lawyers gave him the letter, which he called “HORRIFYING NEWS for our Country,” on Sunday night while he was with his family after attending a Turning Point event in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, or even close,” Trump wrote in his lengthy statement.
Smith, appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November, has led a sprawling investigation in the almost eight months since. Smith secured an indictment before a Florida grand jury last month, charging Trump with 37 counts in connection with his handling of classified documents and alleged efforts to obstruct that investigation.
The charges in that case include making false statements, conspiracy to obstruct justice and willful retention of national defense information, related to the more than 100 classified documents that were recovered from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last year, according to the indictment. Trump pleaded not guilty and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Court records in that case show Trump was sent a target letter on May 19, about three weeks before he was indicted. His co-defendant, Walt Nauta, was sent a target letter on May 24.
A possible indictment charging Trump in the election probe comes after a House select committee, created by Democrats when they held the majority control of the chamber last year, investigated the former president’s role in the riot.
Days after the attack, the House impeached Trump — for the second time — for “incitement of insurrection.” The Senate later acquitted him because Democrats fell 10 votes short in securing enough Republican votes to join them.
In addition to the documents case, Trump was separately charged in early April by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his role in hush money payments toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign. He pleaded not guilty. He also faces a criminal investigation in Georgia related to the 2020 election.
