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Former US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had received a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith stating that he is a target of a grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.
If so, it would represent the clearest sign to date that Trump may face federal criminal charges stemming from his efforts to remain in power after losing the election to his rival, President Joe Biden.
Officials have testified that during his final months in office, Trump pressured them with unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. His supporters attacked the US Capitol in a January 6, 2021, bid 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.
He further said, expects to be arrested by a federal investigation into the January 6 riot at the Capitol and efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
His attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.
A spokesperson for Smith’s office declined to comment.
Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor, said receiving a target letter means the individual should “presume that you're going to get indicted, unless you give us a damn good reason why we shouldn’t.”
Later on Tuesday, defense attorneys and federal prosecutors are due to make their first appearance in Florida before USDistrict Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over charges that Trump mishandled classified information and obstructed justice.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to face Biden, a Democrat, in the 2024 election, was charged last month with unlawfully retaining national defense documents after he left office in 2021 and conspiring to obstruct government efforts to retrieve them.
Smith is leading the prosecution also in that case.
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, ex-White House attorney Pat Cipollone and Trump's Vice President Mike Pence.
Most recently, Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani was interviewed by investigators from Smith's office. In the January 6, 2021, rampage at the Capitol, Trump's supporters used weapons including chemical sprays and riot shields to attack police and break into the building, forcing lawmakers who were in the process of certifying the results of the 2020 election to flee for their lives.
The attack came shortly after Trump told supporters in an incendiary speech near the White House to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell” to “stop the steal” of the election.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with crimes connected with the riot, including some who have been convicted of seditious conspiracy.
