Former US President Donald Trump, who actively made multiple attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 Presidential elections, believes he is a "target" of the Justice Department's investigation into the matter. Prosecutors have cast a broad net in their investigation into attempts by Trump and his allies to block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump, who is currently the dominant early frontrunner for the Republican nomination, is scheduled to travel to Iowa on Tuesday, where he is taping a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Trump claimed that he had received a letter from prosecutors suggesting that he is a target of the probe looking into his efforts to undo the results and suggested that he may be criminally indicted over the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
The former US President made the claim in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying he received the target letter on Sunday night. Such a letter can precede an indictment; Trump got one ahead of being charged last month in a separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.
"Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden's DOJ, sent a letter... stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6 Grand Jury investigation," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump further claimed that he received the letter on Sunday and was given "a very short four days" to report to a grand jury, "which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment."
According to CNN, Trump's legal team were caught off guard by the letter and hasn't formally responded to testify before a grand jury. Trump is likely to decline the invitation to testify and may soon be indicted by Smith.
A spokesman for special counsel Jack Smith, whose office is leading the investigation, did not immediately return an email seeking comment, according to The Associated Press.
Smith has also been investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, including putting forward fake electors in states where Trump lost and pressuring his then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election when Congress certified Biden's Electoral College victory and the infamous January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump's supporters seeking to block above mentioned congressional certification.
The Capitol riot also led to Trump being impeached for a second time during his time in office under the article adopted over the "incitement of insurrection" for his role in instigating his supporters to attempt a violent coup.
Unfazed by multiple probes, Trump doubles down on lies
Prosecutors in Georgia are conducting a separate investigation into efforts by Trump to reverse his election law in that state with the top prosecutor in Fulton County signalling that she expects to announce charging decisions in the first several weeks since Sunday.
In his post, Trump wrote that "they have now effectively indicted me three times....with a probably fourth coming from Atlanta" and added in capital letters, "This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total (political) weaponization of law enforcement!"
Trump argued that he has "the right to protest an Election that I am fully convinced was Rigged and Stolen" and said he was being targeted because of the upcoming election.
The Justice Department has "effectively issued a third indictment and Arrest of Joe Biden's NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT, who is largely dominating him in the race for the Presidency," Trump said. "Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, or even close," he claimed.
77-year-old Trump is already facing charges brought by Smith, the special counsel, for mishandling top secret government documents after leaving the White House. According to the indictment, Trump kept the files -- which included classified records from the Pentagon, CIA and National Security Agency -- unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. The judge presiding over the documents case is to hold a hearing later Tuesday to discuss a date for the trial to begin.
Prosecutors have asked for a December start while Trump's defense attorneys have asked for it to begin after the November 2024 presidential election.
(With additional inputs from AP, AFP)