Trump could face indictment over Jan 6
Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Cully Stimson joins ‘Fox News Live’ and explains how this possible indictment will look different from the classified documents case.
A federal grand jury met in Washington D.C. on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 and election interference investigation, but a court official told Fox News that the panel is not expected to hand up any indictment stemming from the probe Thursday.
Former President Trump’s legal team met with Smith and his team at the special counsel offices on Thursday morning, in anticipation of a possible federal indictment against the 2024 GOP front-runner.
TRUMP LAWYERS MET WITH SPECIAL COUNSEL AHEAD OF POSSIBLE INDICTMENT OUT OF JAN. 6 PROBE
Sources told Fox News that Trump’s legal team was not given any specific timing about a possible indictment, but that they had heard nothing suggesting an indictment would not happen at some point.
After the meeting ended, the former president posted on his Truth Social account:
“My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country,” Trump wrote. “No indication of notice was given during the meeting — Do not trust the Fake News on anything!”
PICKENS, SOUTH CAROLINA – JULY 1: Former President Donald Trump reacts to crowd applause during a campaign event on July 1, 2023 in Pickens, South Carolina. The former president faces a growing list of primary challengers in the Republican Party. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Trump announced last week that he had received a target letter from the Justice Department, which also asked that he report to the federal grand jury. Trump said he anticipated “an arrest and indictment.”
“They’re in a rush because they want to interfere. It’s interference with the election — it’s election interference,” Trump said during a town hall on Fox News with Sean Hannity last week. “Never been done like this in the history of our country, and it is a disgrace what’s happening to our country — whether it is the borders or the elections or kinds of things like this, where the DOJ has become a weapon for the Democrats.”
He added: “An absolute weapon.”
Smith has been investigating whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.
TRUMP PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO 37 FEDERAL FELONY CHARGES IN CLASSIFIED RECORDS CASE
On Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress that was working to certify the Electoral College results in favor of President Biden.
The House of Representatives to impeach Trump on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — making him the first and only president in history to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice.
Had Trump been convicted, the Senate would have moved to bar the 45th president from holding federal office ever again, preventing a 2024 White House run.
Trump was indicted in June on charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records after his presidency. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.
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That indictment was the first time in U.S. history that a former president had faced federal criminal charges.
