July 18, 2023

Trump Says He Could Soon Be Arrested and Indicted in January 6 Case

“I am a TARGET”

Trump complained that he received a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith on Sunday after he returned from a Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he danced during his remarks. Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/Zuma.

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Donald Trump announced Tuesday morning that he has been notified by the Department of Justice that he is a criminal target in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president’s effort to subvert the 2020 election. If what Trump says is true, it’s a sign that he could be facing indictment over his efforts to retain power following his defeat by President Joe Biden.

Trump, naturally, seems upset by that. But in a post on his Truth Social site Tuesday, he also seemed oddly focused on his receipt of the so-called “target letter” on Sunday night. He complained: “Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!)”

Trump 2024: Make America Great Again Statement by Donald J Trump, 45th President of the United States Wow! On Sunday night, while I was with my family, having just arrived from the Turning Point event in Florida, where I won the Straw Poll against all other Republican candidates by 85.7% with all polls showing me leading in the Republican Primary by very substantial numbers, almost everyone predicting that I will be the Republican Nominee for President, and as I am leading Democrat Joe Biden in the polls by a lot, horrifying news for our country was given to me by my attorneys. 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. So now, Joe Biden's Attorney General, Merrick Garland, who I turned down for the US Supreme Court (in retrospect, based on his corrupt and unethical actions, a very wise decision!), together, with Joe Biden's Department of Justice, have 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. Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before, or even close. They illegally spied on my campaign, attacked me with a totally fake "dossier" that was funded by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC, impeached me twice (I won!), they failed on the Mueller Witch Hunt (No collusion!) they failed on the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, the 51 "Intelligence" agents fraud the FBI/Twitter files, the DOJ/Facebook censorship and every other scam imaginable. But on top of all of that, they have now effectively indicted me three times (the DOJ staffed and runs the DA's office in Manhattan) with a probable fourth coming from Atlanta, where the DOJ are in strict, and possibly illegal, coordination with district attorney, whose record on murder and other violent crime is abysmal. The Witch Hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement. It is a very sad and dark period for our nation.

The letter, according to Trump, offered him a chance to appear before a grand jury meeting in Washington, DC, this week. Prosecutors typically send such letters when they are close to seeking the indictment of a target of their probe.

Trump received a separate target letter from Smith’s office in June prior to his indictment for allegedly violating the Espionage Act, along with other charges, related to his efforts to retain White House documents, many of them highly classified, at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump has also been charged in New York with falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is also expected to decide soon whether to charge Trump and associates over their attempts to interfere with the 2020 election results in that state.

In the face of all this legal jeopardy, Trump continued to insist Tuesday that he was fully justified in attempting to overturn the election. “Under the United States Constitution, I have the right to protest an Election that I am fully convinced was Rigged and Stolen,” he wrote.

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From the desk of Mother Jones CEO, Monika Bauerlein...

Newsrooms can be funded in many ways. One of the most controversial (and volatile) ways is by a for-profit corporation or a billionaire owner. We see it across the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones first started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

You may be wondering: What does it take to publish an investigation? And what does my donation actually fund? The answers are one and the same: It takes people, resources, and time. And that’s what your donation funds directly.

Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled because of our $50,000 match. So when you make a donation—$5, $50, any amount—it’ll go twice as far.

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