Federal prosecutors have told the legal team for former President Donald Trump that he is a “target of their investigation” into his handling of classified documents after leaving office, according to a report.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that the notification from Special Counsel Jack Smith was the “clearest signal yet that the former president is likely to face charges in the investigation.” The report said:
It remained unclear when Mr. Trump’s team was told that he was a target of the special counsel’s inquiry, but the notice suggested that prosecutors working for Mr. Smith had largely completed their investigation and were moving toward bringing an indictment.
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Notifying a potential defendant that he or she is a target is a formal way of indicating that the person is a direct focus of a criminal investigation and often precedes the filing of charges. The notification typically opens the door to defense lawyers requesting a meeting with prosecutors to offer their side of the story.
An indictment of Trump would inflame conservatives and potentially rally them to the former president as he seeks re-election to the White House in 2024.
It would come as President Joe Biden himself is under investigation for the handling of classified documents when he left office as vice president and even as a senator.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday:
Wow, this is turning out to be the greatest & most vicious instance of ELECTION INTERFERENCE in the history of our Country. Remember, I’m leading DeSanctimonious BIG in the Polls but, more importantly, I’m leading Biden by a lot. Also, & perhaps most importantly, they are launching all of the many Fake Investigations against me RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF MY CAMPAIGN, something which is unheard of & not supposed to happen. DOJ, FBI, NEW YORK A.G., NEW YORK D.A., ATLANTA D.A. FASCISTS ALL!
House Republicans are turning up the pressure on the Biden DOJ amid suspicions that it is unfairly targeting Trump versus Biden.
On Tuesday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked the DOJ to provide information on the scope of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s classified document probe, as first reported by Breitbart News.
Jordan also asked for the full scope of Smith’s investigation into Trump.
Prosecutors are reportedly looking into whether Trump violated laws on handling classified documents and obstructed government efforts to retrieve them from his home in Mar-a-Lago.
Taylor Budowich, a former Trump spokesman who testified recently in front of a grand jury in Miami as part of the documents probe, called the investigation “bogus and deeply troubling.” He tweeted Wednesday:
Today, in what can only be described as a bogus and deeply troubling effort to use the power of government to “get” Trump, I fulfilled a legal obligation to testify in front a federal grand jury and I answered every question honestly. America has become a sick and broken nation—a decline led by Joe Biden and power hungry Democrats. I will not be intimidated by this weaponization of government. For me, the need to unite our nation and make America great again has never been more clear than it is today. That starts with re-electing President Donald J. Trump, a purpose I will not be deterred from pursuing.
Today, in what can only be described as a bogus and deeply troubling effort to use the power of government to “get” Trump, I fulfilled a legal obligation to testify in front a federal grand jury and I answered every question honestly.
America has become a sick and broken…
— Taylor Budowich (@TayFromCA) June 7, 2023
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