Trump says he's a target in Jan. 6 probe, faces first hearing in classified documents case

Former U.S. president Donald Trump said Tuesday he has received a letter informing him that he is a target of the Justice Department's investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, an indication he could soon be charged by prosecutors.

New federal charges, on top of existing state and federal counts in New York and Florida and a separate election-interference investigation nearing conclusion in Georgia, would add to the list of legal problems for Trump as he pursues the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Trump disclosed the existence of a target letter in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying he anticipates being indicted. Such a letter often precedes an indictment and is used to advise individuals under investigation that prosecutors have gathered evidence linking them to a crime.

The purpose of a target letter is to advise a potential defendant that he or she has a right to appear before the grand jury. Trump said in his post that he has been given "a very short fourdays to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an arrest and indictment." Aides did not immediately respond to questions seeking further information.

A spokesperson for special counsel Jack Smith, whose office is leading the investigation, declined to comment.A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice also declined to comment.

In another probe being overseen by the special counsel, Trump was indicted last month on 37 federal felony counts in relation to accusations of illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago. He has pleaded not guilty.

A pretrial conference in that case was set for Tuesday afternoon in Fort Pierce, Fla. Trump, who faces charges under the Espionage Act, is not required to attend. The conference was presidedover by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon,who issued a court ruling last year that critics said was unduly favourable to Trump.

After the nearly two-hour hearing, the judge put off an immediate decision on the trial date, sayingshe would issue a written order. Lawyers for Trump pressed for an indefinite delay of a trial date.

Pence, Giuliani among those questioned

Legal experts have said potential charges in events in the aftermath of the 2020 election could include conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding, in this case Congress's certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory.

Smith's team has cast a broad net in its investigation into attempts by Trump and his allies to block the transfer of power to Biden in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, when Trump loyalists stormed the building in a bid to disrupt the certification of state electoral votes in Congress.

Trump was impeached by a Democratic-led House for incitement of insurrection in the aftermath of the riot. Trump was acquitted in the Senate as votes fell short of a two-thirds majority, with 57 of 100 senators, including seven Republicans, votingto convict.

Smith's probe has centred on a broad range of efforts by Trump and allies to keep him in office, including the role played by lawyers in pressing for the overturning of results, as well as plans for slates of fake electors in multiple battleground states won by Biden to submit false electoral certificates to Congress.

Prosecutors have questioned multiple Trump administration officials before a grand jury in Washington, including former vice-president Mike Pence, who was repeatedly pressured by Trump to ignore his constitutional duty and block the counting in Congress of electoral votes on Jan. 6.

They've also interviewed other Trump advisers, including former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as local election officials in states including Michigan and New Mexico who endured a pressure campaign from the then-president about overturning election results in their states. A lawyer for Giuliani, who participated in a voluntary interview, said Tuesday that he did not receive a target letter.

Republicans in Congress slam possible new indictment

Trump remains the Republican Party's dominant front-runner, despite indictments that include charges filed in New York in April over allegations Trump Organization business records were falsified after hush money payments were made to two women who claimed extramarital affairs with him.

WATCH | Trump's legal woes aren't hurting him politically:

Trump says he expects to be charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot

1 year ago

Duration 2:45

Former U.S. president Donald Trump said Tuesday he has received a letter informing him that he is a target of another U.S. Justice Department investigation, an indication he could soon be charged by prosecutors. This investigation is into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Asked about the letter during a press conference in South Carolina, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's most serious challenger, said he hadn't seen it and "can't speak about that," but delivered his most forceful critique to date of Trump's inaction on Jan. 6.

"I think it was shown how he was in the White House and didn't do anything while things were going on. He should have come out more forcefully," DeSantis said. However, DeSantissaid, "But to try to criminalize that, that's a different issue entirely."

Asa Hutchinson, also running for president, in a statement repeated his call for Trump to withdraw from the race, saying his actions "should disqualify him from ever being president again."

Trump was to travel to Iowa Tuesday, where he was taping a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

While Smith's probe is at an arm's length from the Justice Department, Republicans such as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and congress member Marjorie Taylor Greene were among those citing the target letter revelation as an example of what they characterized as the politicization of Biden's Justice Department.

Prosecutors in Georgia are conducting a separate investigation into efforts by Trump to reverse his election loss in that state, with the top prosecutor in Fulton County, Fani Willis, previously signalling that she expects to announce charging decisions next month.