Trump denies reports he will be indicted in classified documents probe
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied reports claiming that federal prosecutors have notified him that he’ll likely soon face an indictment in the Justice Department’s investigation of his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
“No one has told me I’m being indicted, and I shouldn’t be because I’ve done NOTHING wrong,” the 76-year-old former president wrote in a Truth Social post.
“But I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI, starting with the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX, the ‘No Collusion’ Mueller Report, Impeachment HOAX #1, Impeachment HOAX #2, the PERFECT Ukraine phone call, and various other SCAMS & WITCH HUNTS,” Trump added.
Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign also fired off an email to supporters Wednesday with a letter signed by the former president saying that he is monitoring the evolving situation.
“As of the time I’m writing this note to you, NO ONE has told me that I’m being indicted. I am watching everything unfold in real time just as you are,” the letter reads.
“But I’ve also read LEAKED REPORTS that the Biden-appointed special counsel is asking a Washington, D.C. grand jury to indict me…” Trump adds.
The former president’s missives come after a Wednesday report by Just the News indicating that special counsel Jack Smith’s team has informed Trump’s lawyers in recent days that charges related to mishandling national defense information, making false statements and obstruction of justice could be brought against Trump as soon as this week.
The report also claims that the Justice Department has declined to push back the planned indictment to investigate allegations that a member of Smith’s team tried to influence a witness by discussing a federal judgeship with the individual’s attorney.
Politico reported on Wednesday that federal prosecutors notified Trump about the potential indictment in a “target letter,” which is sent to those who are likely to be charged by a grand jury in order to give them a chance to testify before an indictment comes down.
The report notes that prosecutors consider persons to be “targets” when there is “substantial evidence linking” the person “to the commission of a crime.”
The New York Times, citing two sources, also reported Wednesday night that Trump’s legal team received the so-called “target” letter from prosecutors, suggesting the Smith-led probe was nearly complete with a potential indictment on the horizon.
If Trump is indicted in the classified document case, it would be his second indictment since leaving office.
Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, was hit with an indictment by a Manhattan grand jury in March related to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election.
He is the first current or former US president to ever be indicted on criminal charges.
Trump shocked his Truth Social followers prior to his indictment in Manhattan by declaring on March 18 that he would be arrested on March 21 in relation to the case, calling on his supporters to protest his purportedly impending arrest.
The former president was not indicted by the Manhattan grand jury until March 30. He was arrested and arraigned in the case on April 4.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump maintained that he “did nothing wrong” related to his handling of sensitive papers, and he referenced the government’s investigation into President Biden’s own classified documents scandal as reasons for why he shouldn’t face charges.
“HOW CAN DOJ POSSIBLY CHARGE ME, WHO DID NOTHING WRONG, WHEN NO OTHER PRESIDENT’S WERE CHARGED, WHEN JOE BIDEN WON’T BE CHARGED FOR ANYTHING, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT HE HAS 1,850 BOXES, MUCH OF IT CLASSIFIED, AND SOME DATING BACK TO HIS SENATE DAY WHEN EVEN DEMOCRAT SENATORS ARE SHOCKED,” Trump wrote in the all-caps post.
Trump has previously argued that everything he took from the White House was declassified, claiming a president has the authority to declassify material “even by thinking about it.”
