President Trump is denying a report he has been told he is “likely to be indicted imminently” in the investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith into his post-presidential handling of classified documents The report was published Wednesday afternoon by John Solomon at Just the News. Solomon’s report states Trump’s lawyers were told that Trump is a target of the investigation and could be indicted as early as this week. (Update at end: U.K. Independent reports Trump could be indicted as early as Thursday.)
Trump’s lawyers met with DOJ officials in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, file screen image.
Solomon also reports Trump’s lawyers have filed a complaint alleging a federal prosecutor in the investigation tampered with a witness by discussing a possible federal judgeship with the witness’ attorney. Trump’s request to the Justice Department for a delay until the allegation was investigated was refused by DOJ.
Following Solomon’s report, Trump told New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman he has not been told he will be indicted but did not respond directly when asked is he has been told he is a target.
Federal prosecutors have notified Donald Trump that he is a criminal target and likely to be indicted imminently in a probe into alleged classified documents – even as the Justice Department declined to delay charges to give time to investigate allegations of witness tampering submitted by the former president’s legal team, according to multiple people on Wednesday familiar with the case.
The sources directly familiar with the case told Just the News that DOJ declined to delay the planned indictment of Trump to investigate allegations that a senior prosecutor working on the case tried to influence a key witness by discussing a federal judgeship with the witness’ lawyer.
That allegation is still pending in a secret case before Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, the jurist who oversees the federal court in Washington, D.C., and the grand juries that convene in that courthouse, the sources said.
An historic federal indictment crafted by Special Counsel Jack Smith could be handed up by a federal grand jury against the 45th president as early as this week, the sources said.
…Smith’s prosecutorial team informed Trump’s legal team in recent days that the charges against the former president could include a violation of 18 U.S. Code Chapter 37 Section 793 that outlaws the “gathering, transmitting or losing” of national defense information. Other charges being considered involve alleged false statements and obstruction of justice, all claims the president and his team have robustly contested in public and in private.
Haberman posted to Twitter about her conversation with Trump on Solomon’s report:
“Trump tells me minutes ago he has NOT been told he’s getting indicted, when contacted. “It’s not true,” he said, adding again he hasn’t done anything wrong…Trump statement came amid a report from one of his allies that he has been told this. NYT, CNN, WaPo and other outlets have all reported federal officials have been building toward a likely indictment, including with witnesses in Miami before a grand jury today…When I asked if he had been told he’s a target, he demurred, saying he doesn’t talk directly to prosecutors.”
Trump tells me minutes ago he has NOT been told he’s getting indicted, when contacted. “It’s not true,” he said, adding again he hasn’t done anything wrong.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 7, 2023
When I asked if he had been told he’s a target, he demurred, saying he doesn’t talk directly to prosecutors.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 7, 2023
Trump then posted on Truth Social, “No one has told me I’m being indicted, and I shouldn’t be because I’ve done NOTHING wrong, but I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI, starting with the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAK, the “No Collusion” Mueller Report, Impeachment HOAX #1, Impeachment HOAX #2, the PERFECT Ukraine phone call, and various other SCAMS & WITCH HUNTS. A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE & ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE. REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS MUST MAKE THIS THEIR # 1 ISSUE!!!”
Trump also noted from the Solomon report, “An American Bar Association report in 2022 seemed to agree with Trump’s assertion that ‘guidelines support his contention that presidents have broad authority to formally declassify.’”
Just the News reported prosecutors plan to push back on Trump’s claimed authority to declassify documents, “Prosecutors plan to counter that authority does not extend to documents containing National Defense Information whose retention or release could jeopardize national security.”
The Messenger reported Wednesday that the newly reported Miami grand jury may be looking at process crimes resulting from the initial investigation (excerpt):
Donald Trump’s ex-spokesman (Taylor Budowich) appeared before a Miami grand jury Wednesday, signaling the breadth of the federal investigation into the former president’s handling of sensitive documents and how it stretches from South Florida to Washington, D.C.
It’s a twist in venue that caught Trump’s lawyers and many legal experts by surprise considering a federal grand jury in Washington has overseen the case and interviewed witnesses for months, leading to speculation that the Department of Justice would charge the former president in the nation’s capital.
…“It may give rise to charges of obstruction of justice occurring in connection with efforts to shield classified documents and related suppression efforts from discovery by federal prosecutors,” said Philip Lacovara, a New York attorney, former deputy U.S. solicitor general and ex-counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor’s office.
But too little is known about the focus of the Florida grand jury to make a more reliable evaluation of its independent significance, Lacovara added.
UPDATE: The U.K. Independent reports Trump could be indicted Thursday, “Prosecutors ready to ask for Trump indictment on obstruction and Espionage Act charges (as early as Thursday)”:
Prosecutors ready to ask for Trump indictment on obstruction and Espionage Act charges https://t.co/Yhpgg7i18Z
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) June 7, 2023
The Independent report confirms Solomon’s report about the end run scheme by prosecutors around Trump’s authority to declassify. Excerpt:
The Independent has learned that prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Mr Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defence”.
The use of Section 793, which does not make reference to classified information, is understood to be a strategic decision by prosecutors that has been made to short-circuit Mr Trump’s ability to claim that he used his authority as president to declassify documents he removed from the White House and kept at his Palm Beach, Florida property long after his term expired on 20 January 2021.
That section of US criminal law is written in a way that could encompass Mr Trump’s conduct even if he was authorised to possess the information as president because it states that anyone who “lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document …relating to the national defence,” and “willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it” can be punished by as many as ten years in prison.
It is understood that prosecutors intend to ask grand jurors to vote on the indictment on Thursday, but that vote could be delayed as much as a week until the next meeting of the grand jury to allow for a complete presentation of evidence, or to allow investigators to gather more evidence for presentation of necessary.
