Trump says he’s officially target of federal probe into efforts to undo 2020 election

WASHINGTON —  Former President Trump said Tuesday that federal prosecutors had told his legal team that he is a target of their investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and keep him in power.

In a statement released on his Truth Social platform, Trump said 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 considering his 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 most significant sign yet that special counsel Smith is close to seeking an indictment of Trump, though it’s unclear what charges he’s considering and whether others might 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.

Targets of criminal investigations rarely speak to grand juries. Trump has not exercised that right in the two other criminal cases in which he’s been charged, and is not expected to do so this time.

The sweeping investigation touches on the weeks-long effort by Trump and his allies to challenge and overturn the election results after his defeat by then-former Vice President Joe Biden.

Smith’s team has scrutinized fundraising based on Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud, along with the coordinated effort to enlist fake electors in states Biden had won to send certificates to the librarian of Congress falsely stating that Trump had prevailed.

Smith is also focusing on a December 2020 Oval Office meeting regarding an executive order to seize voting machines; on the pressure put on state leaders and former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election results; and on Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, while a mob was attacking the Capitol in an effort to prevent lawmakers from finalizing Biden’s victory.

State and local election officials in battleground states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin have spoken with investigators in the probe. The grand jury has heard testimony from some of those closest to Trump, including his former lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Giuliani has not received a target letter and does not expect to be charged, his lawyer told CNN. Giuliani sat for a voluntary interview with investigators several weeks ago.

John Eastman, the Trump-allied California lawyer who wrote a memo arguing that Pence could overturn Biden’s win, has not received a target letter either, according to his attorney Charles Burnham.

“Our client has received no target letter, and we don’t expect one since raising concerns about illegality in the conduct of an election is not now and has never been sanctionable,” Burnham said in a statement.

Also Tuesday, Michigan Atty. Gen. Dana Nessel announced that she had filed charges against 16 people who signed paperwork falsely claiming that Trump had won the state in 2020 as part of the scheme to overturn the results. Nessel said the “fake electors” were being charged with eight felony counts each, including forgery.

Attorneys general in multiple states where fake electors submitted false certificates have launched their own investigations and are weighing charges, or have referred their findings to the Justice Department. Michigan is the first state to bring charges against them.

Trump received a similar target letter shortly before Smith, who was appointed special counsel in November by U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, charged the former president last month with intentionally holding on to classified records 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 last August in a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Trump’s lawyers appeared in a Florida court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing on the timing of the trial and how the classified records will be handled. Federal prosecutors have asked 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 for the 2024 election.

Federal Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, appeared skeptical of both proposals at Tuesday’s hearing. She said she could “appreciate” the defense’s concerns about reviewing the prosecution’s evidence by December, but she prodded Trump’s lawyers to suggest an actual date. They ultimately proposed that the trial not begin until November 2024 at the earliest.

The nearly two-hour hearing ended without a resolution. Cannon said she would issue an order with the trial date soon.

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Trump is leading in polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and has cast his legal issues as an attempt to damage him politically.

In his Truth Social post, he wrote that “they have now effectively indicted me three times ... with a probably fourth coming from Atlanta.” He 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, Ga., regarding efforts to pressure state officials to “find” the votes needed to reverse his loss in the key state in 2020. Fulton County Dist. Atty. 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 also indicted in New York City in April 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 (R-Bakersfield), responding to news of Trump’s target letter, told reporters that the Biden administration was seeking to “weaponize government to go after their No. 1 opponent.”

“It’s time and time again,” he added. “I think the American public is tired of this.”