Special counsel Jack Smith informed Donald Trump, by letter, over the weekend that he is a “target” in his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol storming, and other attempts to overturn the 2020 election. This was confirmed by the former president himself this Tuesday through his network, Truth Social.
Smith’s letter anticipates a possible imminent indictment of the ultra leader, as was the case shortly before he was indicted for the appropriation and concealment of hundreds of secret documents in his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home and for the falsehoods associated with his bribing porn actress Stormy Daniels.
“Unhinged Jack Smith, prosecutor for Joe Biden’s Justice Department, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the Jan. 6 Grand Jury investigation, and gave me just 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means Arrest and Indictment,” Trump posted on his platform.
The investigations by the special representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the United States Department of Justice cover different actions and omissions by Trump aimed at annulling the elections he lost against Biden in November 2020. And it is not entirely clear on what points and with what charges the leader would be charged.
Trump himself cited the assault on the Capitol, when referring to January 6, and it is obvious that it was that coup attempt that, under his instigation, culminated his previous efforts to falsify the elections; efforts that he continued long after the insurrection, which resulted in five deaths in the incident plus two suicides by agents in later days.
The letter that Trump received would indicate that the investigation in question is ending and the Prosecutor’s Office is considering accusing him in the case. The procedure offers the former president – ??as he indicated in his message on Truth Social – the opportunity to testify shortly before the grand jury that, under the direction of the prosecutor, deals with the matter.
But Trump is not required to appear and, according to experts, most likely will not; not only because of his demonstrated reluctance to cooperate with the courts, but because it is not often that those investigated assume the risks that this type of appearance implies.
What is very likely is that, in the coming days or weeks, the Justice Department will present a proposed indictment against Trump to the grand jury. The body is made up of 16 people, of whom at least twelve have to support the imputation for it to become effective.
The news of the letter to Trump comes days after it was learned that his former aide and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, appeared before a grand jury in June in connection with Trump’s attempts to reverse or falsify the election results. It was one more of the testimonies collected in the investigations in this regard, among which was also that of former Vice President Mike Pence: a key contribution considering that Pence, as president of the Senate, had it in his power to maintain or suspend the proclamation of the results that had given victory to Biden.
Trump asked Pence to cancel the session, on that January 6, but he avoided doing so. Then the mob of followers of the ultra leader ran to look for him in the Capitol shouting “Hang Pence”, forcing the police to evacuate him, along with his family, from the office where they were.
The appearance of the former number two of the Republican president, whose content is unknown, lasted more than seven hours.
Prosecutors questioned Pence and Kushner about the former president’s state of mind and pretensions in connection with the Capitol storming, as well as his efforts to raise funds based on his false claims of voter fraud, and whether or not he assumed there had been lost.
Kushner told the public prosecutor that he was under the impression that Trump really believed that the 2020 election had been stolen from him, The New York Times reported.
Although the grand jury investigation is secret until the prosecution makes its ruling official, leaks and analysis of the case point to the possibility that Trump could be indicted on charges of obstruction of official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States through the issuing and sending to Congress false electoral certificates.
The congressional committee that investigated 6-E agreed last December, after 18 months of investigation, to urge the Prosecutor’s Office to indict the former president on those charges of obstruction and fraud, plus that of incitement to insurrection.
Now it remains to be seen not only the final indictment but also the effect it may have on Trump’s candidacy for re-election in the 2024 elections. In the United States, neither an indictment nor a conviction prevents a presidential candidate from continuing on his way towards the White House.
