The latest on investigations into Trump
- Former President Donald Trump said he has been notified that he is the target of an investigation by a Washington, D.C.-based grand jury examining the Jan. 6 insurrection and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
- Special counsel Jack Smith, whom Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed in November, has led a sprawling investigation in the almost eight months since.
- It is the second grand jury convened by Smith that could indict Trump. The first was a Miami-based panel that indicted him over his handling of classified documents.
GOP candidate Chris Christie chastises Trump on Twitter
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie tweeted today that Trump's conduct on Jan. 6 "proves he doesn’t care about our country & our Constitution."
The former New Jersey governor, who has become a sharp critic of Trump, said that instead of accepting his loss in 2020, his GOP rival "tried to overturn the election, undermine democracy & provoked Jan 6."
"His lies have consequences," Christie tweeted of Trump, suggesting that his conduct had hurt Republicans during midterms "and will lose us 2024.”
Georgia governor says he hasn't spoken with anyone from special counsel's office
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said today that he hasn't met with Smith’s team after investigators from Smith’s office interviewed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger last month in Atlanta.
“I have not talked to anybody from the special counsel’s office, no,” Kemp, a Republican, told NBC News.
Asked about the Fulton County probe into whether Trump and his allies interfered in the 2020 presidential election, Kemp said: “I think people are very frustrated that it’s taking so long. It gives the appearance that it’s political, but we’ll see what finally comes out with, I mean, it’s probably going to be another couple of weeks, I guess.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis suggested in letters to local officials that she could seek indictments in the first half of next month.
Asked whether Georgia is prepared for whatever happens in that probe, Kemp said, “Oh, yeah, we’re not going to have anybody getting out of hand in the state of Georgia, I can tell you that.”
Michigan attorney general charges ‘false electors’ over efforts to overturn the 2020 election
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced today that she has filed charges against 16 people who signed paperwork falsely claiming Trump had won the 2020 election as part of a scheme to overturn the results.
Presidents are technically voted in by slates of electors from each state who cast their votes for the candidates selected by their states’ popular vote. In December 2020, as Trump tried to overturn the results of the election, his allies readied alternative slates of electors in several states.
They appear to be the first charges filed against fake electors.
The 16 people being charged in Michigan met in the basement of the state’s Republican Party headquarters and signed multiple certificates claiming they were “the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,” Nessel said in recorded remarks.
Ex-Trump intel chief Coats calls investigation 'a hornets' nest'
Asked about Trump’s growing legal difficulties, Dan Coats, a director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, said he hopes another indictment will prompt voters to consider new Republican leaders.
“That’s a hornets' nest of issues that, well, both presidents — but particularly Trump — need to go through,” he told NBC News.
“I hope the American people will look at that as a reason to give thought to the need for a new generation” of national leaders, said Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana.
Biden respects the DOJ's independence, White House press secretary says
Biden "respects the Department of Justice, their independence," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in today's briefing when asked about Trump's legal development.
She said she did not want to discuss hypotheticals or comment further.
Trump-allied lawyer John Eastman has not received a target letter, attorney says
John Eastman, the Trump-allied lawyer who created a memo arguing that, as vice president, Mike Pence could overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, has not received a target letter from the special counsel.
His attorney, Charles Burnham, said in a statement: "Our client has received no target letter, and we don’t expect one since raising concerns about illegality in the conduct of an election is not now and has never been sanctionable."
What is a target letter?
In his post on Truth Social, Trump said he received a “target letter” Sunday from Smith, or an official notice that he is the subject of a federal investigation.
Unlike an indictment, target letters do not officially indicate that recipients will face criminal charges, only that they are the subjects of criminal investigations, according to the Justice Department’s Justice Manual.
The manual notes that people become “targets” if prosecutors or grand juries generally conclude that the subjects of investigations are likely to face criminal charges and if they possess “substantial evidence” linking them to “the commission of a crime.”
The letters usually invite a recipient to voluntarily appear before a grand jury, typically offering a "reasonable" window of time to testify ahead of prosecutors' seeking an indictment, according to the manual. The Justice Department's manual also includes a copy of a sample target letter:
This letter is supplied to a witness scheduled to appear before the federal Grand Jury in order to provide helpful background information about the Grand Jury. The Grand Jury consists of from sixteen to twenty-three persons from the District of ___. It is their responsibility to inquire into federal crimes which may have been committed in this District.
As a Grand Jury witness you will be asked to testify and answer questions, and to produce records and documents. Only the members of the Grand Jury, attorneys for the United States and a stenographer are permitted in the Grand Jury room while you testify.
We advise you that the Grand Jury is conducting an investigation of possible violations of federal criminal laws involving, but not necessarily limited to *. You are advised that the destruction or alteration of any document required to be produced before the grand jury constitutes serious violation of federal law, including but not limited to Obstruction of Justice.
You are advised that you are a target of the Grand Jury's investigation. You may refuse to answer any question if a truthful answer to the question would tend to incriminate you. Anything that you do or say may be used against you in a subsequent legal proceeding. If you have retained counsel, who represents you personally, the Grand Jury will permit you a reasonable opportunity to step outside the Grand Jury room and confer with counsel if you desire.
CRM 1-499, Criminal resource manual, Justice manual
Trump 'was willing to let people die for his lies,' GOP rival Hurd says
Former Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, criticized Trump's actions leading up to Jan. 6, saying in a statement that the former president "was willing to let people die for his lies about a stolen election."
"Trump’s inaction then and now being a target in the investigation proves he’s not fit for office," Hurd added.
Hurd, a moderate Republican and Trump critic who announced his campaign for president last month, has said he will not support the former president if he becomes the 2024 Republican nominee.
Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor, says he expects Trump to be indicted
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., a former federal prosecutor, called Smith's investigation "incredibly exhaustive" and said he expects the special counsel to indict the former president soon.
"The special counsel has clearly done an incredibly exhaustive investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and this appears to be the culmination of it, and I expect Donald Trump to be indicted in the near future," Goldman said.
Trump takes off from Newark en route to Iowa
Trump took off on his plane from Newark Liberty International Airport at around 1:30 p.m. ET en route to Iowa, where he's scheduled to participate in a town hall with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
The town hall is set to air at 9 ET tonight.
Trump aides mock DeSantis' reaction to target letter
Two of Trump's campaign aides mocked GOP rival Ron DeSantis on Twitter after the Florida governor responded to the news of the target letter on Tuesday.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung tweeted, "A disqualifying take from an unserious candidate in the last throes of his failed candidacy."
He was retweeting a short video clip showing DeSantis saying that it was shown that Trump sat in the White House on Jan. 6 and didn't speak out more forcefully against the rioters at the Capitol.
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller also retweeted the video clip and wrote, "Ron DeCheney," clearly referring to former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the vice chair of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection, and a major Trump critic.
Rep. Matt Gaetz says he plans to introduce bill to defund special counsel's investigation
In a podcast episode posted to his account on Rumble, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said that he plans to unveil legislation that would defund the investigation of special counsel Jack Smith, who has already charged Trump in connection with his handling of classified documents.
"The House of Representatives needs to take action to defund this special counsel investigation immediately," Gaetz said.
"They are attacking our democracy and engaging in election interference right now," he continued. "I will be introducing legislation to defund the Jack Smith investigation."
NBC News recently reported that Smith spent more than $5 million in the first four months of both probes. Gaetz's proposal to defund Smith's office would never pass the divided Congress as it would be blocked by Democrats.
Trump lawyers and special counsel to appear in classified document case
Follow coverage of today's hearing in the classified documents case.
DeSantis suggests 'weaponization' of law enforcement is to blame
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's chief rival in the Republican presidential primary, suggested that the "politicization" of law enforcement institutions caused Trump's latest legal woe.
DeSantis, speaking at a campaign event in West Columbia, S.C., said that law enforcement agencies should file criminal charges only when a defendant “behave[d] criminally,” not “because you may have done something wrong.”
"We look at institutions, unfortunately, like our own FBI and we've seen the politicization of those institutions," DeSantis said, adding that he cannot comment specifically on Trump's statement since he had not seen it yet.
He added that Trump should have responded “more forcefully” to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, but said Trump should not face criminal charges from the special counsel’s investigation.
Trump accuses DOJ of 'election interference' and 'prosecutorial misconduct'
In all caps, Trump attacked what he called "crooked Joe Biden" and "his injustice department" in a post on Truth Social late Tuesday morning.
"Witch hunt!!! Crooked Joe Biden & his injustice department want to indict & arrest his presumed political opponent (me!), who is leading him in the polls in the upcoming presidential election of 2024," he wrote in all capital letters.
"Such a thing has never happened in our country before...and in the middle of the campaign??? Election interference & prosecutorial misconduct!!!"
Two federal law enforcement sources confirm Smith informed Trump he's a target of 2020 election probe
Two federal law enforcement sources confirmed on Tuesday that Smith informed Trump by letter that he is a target of the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The target letter was sent to Trump’s attorneys over the weekend, the sources said.
They also said that the letter advised Trump that he has the right to appear before the grand jury — standard language for a target letter — and that there is evidence linking him to a crime.
A spokesperson for the Office of Special Counsel declined to comment.
Ramaswamy says 'bad judgement is not a crime,' claims 'pervasive censorship' incited Jan. 6
GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy staged a lukewarm defense of Trump on Tuesday, saying he "would have made very different judgements" than Trump but argued that "bad judgement is not a crime."
“It’s a mistake to say he was responsible for January 6th,” Ramaswamy said in a statement to NBC News.
He claimed that "systematic and pervasive censorship" was the "real cause" of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capital, though he did not cite any evidence to support that claim.
White House not commenting on Trump developments
Neither the White House, Biden campaign nor the Democratic National Committee are commenting on the latest legal developments involving Trump, their chief potential rival.
Biden's silence so far mirrors his quietness on the previous indictments. He previously gave a message to aides and his re-election team that they should avoid talking about Trump's legal issues so it did not appear that Biden was misusing power.
White House spokesperson Ian Sams referred questions to the Justice Department.
Dozens of witnesses have testified before the grand jury
Federal grand jurors probing Trump’s attempts to stop the transfer of presidential power after his 2020 election loss have heard testimony from dozens of witnesses in a wide-ranging investigation that has examined the former president’s conduct spanning the time from before Election Day through the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, an NBC News analysis found.
Reporters and producers regularly camp out in the courthouse lobby, watching the staircase and the elevators, trying to spot witnesses entering the grand jury area. Over the course of several months, the Washington residents sitting on the grand jury have heard testimony from witnesses ranging from little-known campaign aides to Secret Service agents to the former vice president of the United States.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, the highest profile witness to appear before the grand jury, testified in late April after a court order to comply with a subpoena, NBC News reported, just over a month before he announced he was challenging Trump for president in 2024. Two of Pence’s aides who were with him at the Capitol on Jan. 6 also testified before a grand jury last summer, before Smith’s appointment. Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short appeared in July 2022, according to a source familiar with his testimony, and several news outlets reported that Greg Jacob, Pence’s counsel, testified as well; he declined to comment.
Trump hints at latest legal setback
If Smith does obtain an indictment, it could be the third criminal case against the former president with more to possibly come.
In June, Smith indicted Trump on 37 felony counts, each related to his retention of hundreds of classified government documents. Judge Aileen Cannon, who will preside over the classified documents trial, will hear arguments in court today on when the trial should take place.
The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney, Fani Willis, is investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia and has said she will announce whether she intends to charge Trump this summer. On Monday, Georgia’s Supreme Court denied Trump’s request to halt that probe.
The Manhattan district attorney charged Trump in April in relation to hush money payments made to two women before the 2016 election. Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, and the trial is set to begin in March.
In September, the New York Attorney General filed a sweeping lawsuit against Trump, his three eldest children and the Trump Organization in connection with her yearslong civil investigation into the company’s business practices.
Trump set for a town hall with Fox News' Hannity on Tuesday
Trump is expected to participate in a town hall with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday.
The event is scheduled to take place in the afternoon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is set to air at 9 p.m. ET.
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene reacts to Trump target letter: 'It's absolute bull----'
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., lashed out at Democrats and President Joe Biden in reacting to the news of Trump saying he had received a target letter in the Jan. 6 probe.
"Yeah, it’s absolute bull----. Yeah, that’s my reaction. This is the only way that the Democrats have to beat President Trump is to arrest him, smear him, charge him with ridiculous charges," she told reporters at the Capitol.
Greene said it's part of an effort to cover up "Joe Biden’s crimes" and "Hunter Biden’s crimes."
Joe Biden has not been accused of any crimes and his son Hunter reached a plea agreement in which he is expected plead guilty to two federal misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes. He also faced a separate felony gun possession charge that is likely to be dismissed if he meets certain conditions.
Trump says latest legal headwind marks 'a very sad and dark period for our nation.'
In announcing that he is the target of an investigation, Trump criticized the investigation and investigators.
“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 said in a statement posted to his Truth social platform.
He accused the attorney general, Merrick Garland, of "effectively" issuing a "third indictment and arrest of Joe Biden's NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT," reiterated his claim that he is a victim of ceaseless political persecution, and suggested that the "witch hunt" is driven by "election interference," though he did not provide any evidence to support that claim.
"It is a very sad and dark period for our nation," Trump concluded.
Trump says he received target letter on Sunday
The former president said in his lengthy statement on Truth Social that he had received the target letter on Sunday night from his attorneys.
Trump shared the news about the letter on Tuesday morning.
Trump says he’s received target letter from special counsel Jack Smith
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 this effectively means that the Department of Justice will issue a third indictment, charging and arresting him. Trump added that he’s “Joe Biden’s NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT, who is largely dominating him in the race for the Presidency.”