Washington [US]: Former US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has received a letter from the Justice Department stating that he is the “target” of the long-running investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, The Washington Post reported.
Trump wrote on social media that special counsel Jack Smith — the prosecutor leading the federal investigation — sent a letter on Sunday. However, a spokesman for Smith declined to comment on the issue, The Post stated.
“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 Truth Social.
Notably, Trump has already been indicted on federal charges in a separate case alleging that he mishandled classified documents.
In March, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on state charges, alleging that he falsified records related to hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, The Post reported.
The district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., is leading an ongoing state investigation related to the 2020 election and has said she will make a charging decision in the case next month.
Trump further alleged that he was told in the target letter to “report” to the grand jury within four days of receiving it on Sunday.
“Under the United States Constitution, I have the right to protest an Election that I am fully convinced was Rigged and Stolen, just as Democrats have done against me in 2016, and many others have done over the ages,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
As per The Washington Post, a target letter from prosecutors means investigators have gathered substantial evidence linking the recipient to a crime — but it does not necessarily mean charges will ultimately be brought. Often such letters invite the target to appear before a grand jury to offer evidence.
This episode has drawn sharp criticism from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who while reacting to the target letter alleged that President Joe Biden’s administration is weaponizing government “to go after their number one opponent.”
“Well, I guess under a Biden administration by America, you’d expect this. If you notice recently, President Trump went up in the polls and was actually surpassing President Biden for reelection. So what do they do now? Weaponize government to go after their number one opponent. It’s time and time again,” CNN quoted McCarthy as saying.
The Justice Department led by Smith has been examining the events that led up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
Investigators have looked at the ads and email messages that sought to fundraise off false claims of election fraud and the decision by Republican electors in some states won by President Biden to send signed statements purporting to affirm Trump as the victor.
During the investigation, prosecutors have asked witnesses hours of detailed questions about meetings Trump led in December 2020 and January 2021, a time when he was falsely insisting that he defeated Biden in the election even as swing states certified Biden’s win, people familiar with the questioning have said.
So far, Trump is the only person to publicly say he has received a target letter as part of the Jan. 6 investigation.
Last month, a federal grand jury indicted Trump on 37 charges in a separate case also led by Smith alleging that the former president took classified materials from the White House and improperly kept them at his Florida residence after he left office. Prosecutors allege that the former president then tried to hide some of the classified materials as federal officials demanded them back, The Post reported.
Trump had also received a target letter from Smith in that investigation in the days before he was indicted, but the former President declined to appear in front of the grand jury.
