Donald Trump says he's a target of US probe into efforts to overturn 2020 election

Former president made the claim in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying he received the 'target letter' while with his family on Sunday night

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By AP

Published: Tue 18 Jul 2023, 6:28 PM

Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has received a letter informing him that he is a target of the Justice Department's investigation into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, an indication that he could soon be indicted by federal prosecutors.

Trump made the claim in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying he received the target letter while with his family on Sunday night. Such a letter can precede an indictment and is used to advise individuals that prosecutors have evidence linking them to a crime; Trump received one ahead of being charged last month in a separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.

A spokesman for special counsel Jack Smith, whose office is leading the investigation, declined to comment. Prosecutors have cast a broad net in their investigation into attempts by Trump and his allies to block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden.

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Trump, who is currently the dominant early frontrunner for the Republican nomination, is scheduled to travel to Iowa Tuesday, where he is taping a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Prosecutors in Georgia are conducting a separate investigation into efforts by Trump to reverse his election law in that state, with the top prosecutor in Fulton County signaling that she expects to announce charging decisions in the first several weeks since Sunday.

In his post, Trump wrote that “they have now effectively indicted me three times.... with a probably fourth coming from Atlanta” and added in capital letters, “This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total (political) weaponization of law enforcement!”

Trump was indicted last month on 37 felony counts accusing him of illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago. He has pleaded not guilty. A pretrial conference in that case was set for Tuesday in Fort Pierce, Fla.

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AP

Published: Tue 18 Jul 2023, 6:28 PM

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