The letter that special counsel Jack Smith sent to Donald Trump informing him he is a target in the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election references three federal laws, according to multiple news reports.
Those statutes, which may be a basis for prosecuting the former president, include conspiracy to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under color of law, and tampering with victims, witnesses or informants.
Any charges that Trump ultimately may face wouldn’t necessarily involve those laws or be restricted to just those three statutes, NBC News noted.
Trump said he received the correspondence from Smith on Sunday evening in a post on his social platform. He said Smith gave him “a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”
Trump only disclosed he had gotten the letter after a news inquiry, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told CNN.
Witnesses in the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 probe have included people who were close to the president, including his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, former Vice President Mike Pence, as well as former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s political adviser, told CNN’s Paula Reid the former mayor hasn’t received a target letter and that he doesn’t expect his client to be charged in the case. Goodman, in a separate statement, denied that Giuliani had “flipped” on Trump.
“In order to ‘flip’ on President Trump — as many in the anti-Trump media fantasize over — Mayor Giuliani would’ve had to commit perjury, because all info he has on this case points to President Trump’s innocence,” Goodman said.
Meanwhile, a federal grand jury, set to meet on Thursday, will hear again from Will Russell, a current aide to Trump who worked as his special assistant in the White House, CNN and ABC News reported.
Trump already faces criminal charges in New York over his role in a hush-money payment scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Smith’s office also has charged him with Espionage Act violations over his mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
Trump also is under investigation in Georgia for his efforts to undo the 2020 election result in the state.
Trump’s many Republican defenders, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), have stood behind the president, asserting the DOJ’s probe is politically motivated.