Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he is a target of a grand jury probe into the case pertaining to efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat, reported Reuters. Trump said he had received a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith stating that he is a target of the grand jury investigation. As per Reuters, a letter would represent the clearest sign to date that Trump may face federal criminal charges around his efforts to remain in power after losing the election to Joe Biden.
Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, the report added. As per Reuters, several officials have testified that during his final months in office, Trump pressured them with false claims of widespread voter fraud. His supporters attacked the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021 in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden's win.
"Smith sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation," Trump wrote on his Truth Social media site, as quoted by Reuters.
In his post, Trump said Smith's office had given him "a very short 4 days" to appear before the grand jury in the probe, the report added.
Trump has been facing a series of legal investigations. In addition to the charges in the classified documents case, Trump is accused of falsifying business records concerning a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she has confirmed but he denies.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Tuesday announced criminal charges against 16 Trump supporters who allegedly submitted a phony slate of electors in a bid to overturn his 2020 defeat in that state, stated Reuters in its report.
The report added that legal battles have so far failed to dent Trump's efforts to win the 2024 Republican nomination. His lead in opinion polls has widened in recent months and his Republican rivals have largely supported him in the face of several criminal probes.
Meanwhile, Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor, said a person who receives a target letter should "presume that you're going to get indicted unless you give us a damn good reason why we shouldn't."
Reuters mentioned that Smith has already brought criminal charges against Trump in a separate federal case alleging he unlawfully retained national security documents after leaving office in 2021 and conspired to obstruct efforts to retrieve them. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
According to a court filing, Smith sent a target letter to Trump's lawyers in that case on May 19, roughly three weeks before he filed charges, the report further said.
As part of the 2020 election investigation, a grand jury at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC, has heard testimony from high-profile former Trump administration officials, including Mike Pence, who served as Trump's vice president.
Notably, in federal investigations, targets are sometimes provided an opportunity to testify before a grand jury if they have not already done so before prosecutors seek an indictment, according to Reuters.
Trump is the first former president to be indicted.
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