CNN
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Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers and advisers are trying to figure out whether there is evidence and witnesses they don’t know about that are bolstering special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. the Trump team’s legal talk.
The potential charges listed in the assignment letter suggest the special counsel will prosecute a larger case against Trump than the former president’s team expected, given the evidence they know. That has raised questions about whether there is evidence or witnesses they don’t know about, the sources said.
Trump’s team of lawyers and advisers has tried to keep a close eye on the investigation. The former president’s political action committee has underwritten legal fees for several witnesses, giving them insight into what has been shared with Smith’s team.
Trump said on social media Tuesday that he received a target letter from Smith on Sunday, a sign that charges in the case could be coming soon. His legal team believes they have until midnight Thursday to respond to special counsel Jack Smith and tell his office if there are any witnesses or evidence they want to offer, sources tell CNN. A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment.
The destination letter cites three statutes Trump could be charged with: disenfranchisement; conspiracy to commit a crime or defraud the United States; and tampering with a witness, according to multiple media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, which cited a person familiar with the matter.
In the investigation, it is known that the Department of Justice is looking into possible violations of the law surrounding the conspiracy and obstruction of the process of Congress on January 6, which is part of the witness tampering law, CNN previously reported after a Justice Department investigation into a Trump administration. adviser’s house
If Smith indicts Trump in the Jan. 6 case, it would be the third time Trump has been criminally indicted this year, and the second by the special counsel. The Manhattan district attorney indicted Trump in March for falsifying business records, and Smith indicted Trump last month for mishandling classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Trump denounced the special counsel on Tuesday when he revealed the destination letter. At a Fox News town hall in Iowa on Tuesday evening, Trump claimed the election investigation amounted to “election interference” and called it a “disgrace.”
Trump is speaking for the first time since revealing he is a target of the special counsel’s investigation
Trump’s legal team has not formally responded to the invitation to testify before the grand jury, which the letter provides, but Trump is widely expected to decline to do so. The letter caught Trump’s team off guard, sources said, as Trump advisers had not expected Smith to file charges this month, or against Trump himself.
So far, Trump’s team has not identified anyone else who received a target letter, sources said.
The special counsel has conducted an extensive investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including efforts to pressure state election officials by presenting false voters in seven states that Trump lost, pressure. campaigns at the Justice Department and toward then-Vice President Mike Pence, and post-election fundraising.
The grand jury continues to hear testimony, and a close Trump adviser, Will Russell, is expected to appear Thursday. Russell, a White House aide who has continued to work for Trump after leaving office, has testified before the grand jury at least twice before. Russell’s attorney declined to comment.
