Donald Trump is facing charges related to at least three key allegations as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's 2020 election investigation, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, according to reports.
The former president revealed on Tuesday that he had received a target letter informing him that he is under federal investigation over the attempts to overturn the last election results and the events that led up to the January 6 attack, a sign that Trump is on the verge of another indictment.
Trump, the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, did not specify what charges he could face while attacking the investigation into him as "election interference" and denying all wrongdoing.
The letter means the former president is now likely to face further legal peril amid his next run for the White House having already been charged by Smith's office for allegedly hoarding classified documents, as well as in New York over falsifying business records allegations in relation to "hush money" paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Trump's legal team has been contacted for comment via email. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on Trump's post, when reached by Newsweek on Tuesday.
While the precise details of the charges Trump faces as part of the 2020 election and January 6 probe are unclear, reporting by several news outlets, including the Associated Press, The New York Times, ABC News and Rolling Stone, suggests that the former president may be accused of various offenses related to conspiracy to defraud the United States, violation of rights, and tampering with a witness, victim or an informant.
In recent months, federal prosecutors have asked witnesses about a White House meeting on December 18, 2020, that included discussion of seizing voting machines and about lawyers' involvement in plans to block the transfer of power, the AP reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
They have also discussed with witnesses alleged schemes by Trump associates to enlist Republican fake electors in key states and interviewed state election officials allegedly pressured over the election results in the days before the Capitol riot, the AP said, adding that is it not known exactly which charges he will face. The AP said that the actions of Trump's lawyers in helping him attempt to stay in power were another focus of the investigation.
There has also been speculation that Trump could face charges of fraud in relation to the fundraising efforts in the wake of the 2020 election. Last year, the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot alleged that Trump and his fundraising team may have defrauded his supporters out of millions of dollars by asking for money to fight the results of the last election, despite knowing that Joe Biden won fairly.
In her opening statement in June 2022, panel member Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, said Trump's supporters gave money to the Save America Super PAC on the assumption it would be used to cover legal costs fighting the false election fraud claims in the courts.
"But the Trump Campaign didn't use the money for that. The 'Big Lie' was also a big rip- off," Lofgren said.
Norm Eisen, an attorney and former special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Trump's first impeachment trial, said that the target letter sent to Trump suggests that federal prosecutors have "more than enough evidence" to charge the former president.
"By leading the effort to procure fraudulent electoral certificates across the nation, Trump helmed a conspiracy to defraud the U.S.," Eisen told The New York Times. "And by using those false documents to press [then Vice President] Mike Pence to disrupt the January 6 meeting of Congress, Trump attempted to obstruct an official proceeding."
In his statement, Trump stated he is at risk of also being charged in Georgia, where Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis has been investigating if the former president and his allies committed a crime in their attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. A decision by Georgia prosecutors on whether to indict Trump is expected within the next few weeks.
"They have now effectively indicted me three times, with a probable fourth coming from Atlanta, where the DOJ are in strict, and possibly illegal, coordination with the District Attorney, whose record on murder and other violent crime is abysmal," Trump said.
"This witch hunt is all about election interference and complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement," Trump added. "It is a very sad and dark period for our nation."
