Former President Trump's legal team has been informed he is a target of special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Trump's post-presidency handling of classified documents, a sign that an indictment could be coming soon. NBC News reports the notification took place Monday during the Trump team's meeting with Justice Department prosecutors. The New York Times reports this is "the clearest signal yet that the former president is likely to face charges in the investigation," and CNN notes that this news makes it clear the federal probe is indeed focused on the actions of Trump himself, not just those in his orbit.
Asked by the Times if he'd been told he would be indicted, Trump replied only that it was "not true." He later posted a message to his Truth Social platform saying, "No one has told me I’m being indicted." (He went on to add that he's simply a "Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI.") Meanwhile, witnesses were still appearing in front of a federal grand jury in Miami that is hearing evidence in the case Wednesday, including one of Trump's former spokesmen, Taylor Budowich. A grand jury in Washington was also hearing testimony, but witnesses have not appeared there since sometime in May, and it's not clear whether an indictment might be filed in Washington, Miami, or both.
It's also not clear when one might be filed, but the Hill reports the "political world is bracing" for the possibility, and on Tuesday, former Attorney General Bill Barr said he considers this "the most dangerous legal risk facing" Trump. The special counsel's office also has a separate inquiry into Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and a prosecutor in Georgia is looking into his attempts to overturn his loss in that state in particular. Trump has already, of course, been indicted at the state level in a hush money case in New York. If he's indicted in the classified documents case, it would be the first time a former US president has been prosecuted at the federal level, the Washington Post reports. (More Donald Trump stories.)
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