WASHINGTON — The letter former President Donald Trump received from special counsel Jack Smith informing him that he is the subject of a federal investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election mentions three federal statutes related to disenfranchisement and conspiracy to defraud the United States. .UU., and the tampering of a witness.
Those three federal statutes were included in the letter Trump said he received Sunday night, according to two attorneys with direct knowledge of the document. The context surrounding the statutes cited in the target letter is unclear, and their inclusion in the letter does not necessarily mean that Trump will be indicted on related charges or that an indictment would be limited to just those three statutes.
The details of the letter were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Trump publicly revealed Tuesday that he received the letter Sunday night and was giving him four days to decide whether to testify before the grand jury investigating the case. Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed that Trump had received an objective letter from Smith, but it was not immediately clear Tuesday what the charges would be or if anyone else received an objective letter. People who have been informed that they are the subject of criminal investigations are often, though not always, charged.
The Department of Justice defines a «aim» as «a person for whom the prosecutor or grand jury has substantial evidence linking him to the commission of a crime and who, in the prosecutor’s judgment, is a putative defendant.» The purpose of notifying a target of the state is to «provide you with the opportunity to testify before the grand jury,» according to the Justice Department.
Trump said he believes the letter means he will be impeached for a third time, claiming it is part of an effort by President Joe Biden and his administration to target him because he is «the NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT of Joe Biden, who is largely dominating him.» in the race for the presidency.
Several people familiar with the matter say Trump has no plans to travel to Washington this week to testify before the special counsel. William Russell, a former Trump White House aide working for his 2024 presidential campaign, will testify before the grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Russell has already appeared before grand juries multiple times.
Trump lashed out at Smith on Tuesday, both on his Truth Social account and at a town hall in Iowa hosted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity. The former president also reached out to his Republican allies on Capitol Hill Tuesday after announcing that he had received the letter.
Trump called House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., urging them to rally support from their rank and file for him, said two people familiar with the calls. Stefanik, who publicly endorsed Trump in his re-election campaign, and McCarthy, who did not, defended the former president in on-camera comments to reporters Tuesday, claiming the investigation against him was politically motivated.
«Well, I guess under the Biden administration, Biden America, one would expect this,» McCarthy told reporters. «If you noticed, recently, President Trump rose in the polls and was actually beating President Biden for re-election. So what do they do now? Arm the government, go after their number one opponent. It’s over and over again I think the American public is tired of this, they want to have…see equal justice and the idea that they use this to go after those who disagree politically with them is incorrect.»
Stefanik said: «We have yet again another example of Joe Biden’s armed Justice Department taking aim at his main political opponent, Donald Trump.
Garrett Haake and Vaughn Hillyard contributed.