WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has been notified that he is the target of an investigation by a Washington-based grand jury examining the Jan. 6 riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“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,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
Trump said that effectively means he will be indicted for a third time. He added that he is "Joe Biden’s NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT, who is largely dominating him in the race for the Presidency."
It was not immediately clear what the charges would be or whether anyone else received a target letter. People who have been informed that they are targets of criminal probes are often, but not always, indicted.
Trump said his lawyers gave him the letter, which he called "HORRIFYING NEWS for our Country," on Sunday night while he was with his family after having attended a Turning Point event in West Palm Beach, Florida.
"Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, or even close," Trump wrote in his lengthy statement.
A spokesperson for the special counsel's office declined to comment.
Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed that Trump had received a target letter from Smith.
The Justice Department defines a “target” as "a person as to whom the prosecutor or the grand jury has substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime and who, in the judgment of the prosecutor, is a putative defendant." The purpose of notifying a target of the status is "to afford him or her an opportunity to testify before the grand jury," according to the Justice Department.
Despite Trump’s attempt to stir up outrage on social media, Fox News host Sean Hannity opened an interview with the former president later Tuesday by observing that the latest development “doesn’t seem to bother” him.
“It bothers me,” Trump replied at the town hall-style forum, recorded in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and broadcast during Hannity’s prime-time program. “It bothers me for everybody in this incredible sold-out audience.”
Trump allies blasted the news and maintained Smith's probe and others are politically motivated.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., blasted the news as an example of "weaponized government," while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called it "absolute bull----."
A pair of Trump's Republican presidential rivals criticized his behavior on Jan. 6 but said they did not think he should be charged.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Tuesday that Trump that should have "come out more forcefully" to stop the violence during the Capitol riot but that "to try to criminalize that, that's a different issue entirely."
Former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump pressured to halt Congress' counting of Electoral College votes and then complained on social media while rioters were storming the Capitol, said in an interview Tuesday with NewsNation that his former running mate's words on Jan. 6 were "reckless," adding, "I had no right to overturn the election."
"President Trump was wrong then. He’s wrong now. And I believe that history, history will hold him to account for his actions that day, but with regard to the prospect of an indictment, I hope it doesn’t come to that," Pence continued. "I’m not convinced that the president acting on the bad advice of a group of crank lawyers that came into the White House in the days before January 6th is actually criminal."
The White House declined comment on the target letter.
