The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached the "end game" in its investigation into former President Donald Trump's alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said Tuesday.
The DOJ's probe of the riot—in which a mob of Trump supporters, allegedly motivated by his unproven election fraud claims, violently protest at the Capitol in a failed effort to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory—appears to be nearing the end, Kirschner said on MSNBC.
The investigation, led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, has also focused on Trump allies' alleged attempts to submit false slates of pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College from battleground states narrowly won by Biden. Trump has maintained his innocence, arguing that he did nothing wrong on January 6 and that prosecutors are engaging in a politically motivated investigation.
Smith this month sent a letter to Trump stating that he is the target of the investigation. Kirschner said the letter indicates that the investigation has entered its final stage.
"When we deliver target letters to somebody that prosecutors have been investigating in the grand jury for a very long time, that signals that the prosecution team is pretty much at the investigative end game," Kirschner told host José Díaz-Balart.
Kirschner declined to predict a precise date in which Trump may be indicted but said prosecution is likely preparing to deliver charges to the grand jury, which will vote on whether to indict Trump.
"Usually, that will come pretty quickly after prosecutors deliver that target letter because the target letter is a signal that the prosecutors have done everything they felt like they needed to do investigatively before asking the grand jury to vote on charges," he said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign via email for comment.
Trump's team has previously rejected Kirschner's legal analysis, saying in a statement to Newsweek that Kirschner is "a notorious trafficker of wild conspiracy theories and dubious legal analysis" who "has been shunned by the legal community at large."
Trump has claimed repeatedly that the 2020 presidential election was stolen via widespread voter fraud, but his efforts to thwart the election results failed. Several investigations and recounts in swing states such as Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin upheld the integrity of the election.
The former president in a Truth Social post on Monday accused federal prosecutors of "election interference" over the investigation.
"Do you think that A.G. Garland, and Deranged Jack Smith, understand that we are in the middle of a major political campaign for President of the United States? Have they looked at recent poll numbers?" Trump wrote.
"Why didn't they bring these ridiculous charges years before—Why did they wait to bring them NOW—A virtually unheard of scenario? PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT! ELECTION INTERFERENCE!" he wrote.
The potential indictment would come just weeks after Trump was indicted in a case involving classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The DOJ indictment alleged that Trump took the documents, at least one of which dealt with military plans, from the White House when he left office in January 2021 and obstructed government efforts to retrieve them.
Trump has also maintained his innocence in that case, pleading not guilty to 37 counts. He has said he did nothing wrong and that the documents were declassified.
