Investigators inform lawyers
Trump moves closer to further indictments
06/08/2023 04:31 am
There are growing indications of further charges against the former US President. In the affair of secret government documents, Trump’s lawyers are informed that the 76-year-old is now a personal target of the special counsel.
In the secret documents affair surrounding Donald Trump, there are increasing signs that the former US President may soon be indicted. Several US media reported on Wednesday evening (local time) that prosecutors from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team had informed Trump’s lawyers that he was personally the target of their investigation.
This is reportedly a precursor to a possible indictment against the 76-year-old Republican, who plans to run again in the 2024 presidential election. The New York Times and the news channel CNN, among others, reported on the information provided to the lawyers.
The US federal police FBI had confiscated numerous documents, including many with classification levels, during a raid on Trump’s private home Mar-a-Lago in the US state of Florida last August. Trump took the documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his term in January 2021. Presidents are required by law to turn over official records to the National Archives after the end of their term of office. In addition, there are strict legal rules for dealing with secret documents.
Audio document emerged
According to media reports, investigators only gathered new details at the beginning of June. The television channel CNN and other media, citing informed circles, reported that investigators had come across a recording from the summer of 2021 in which Trump had admitted possession of a Pentagon document classified as secret. He made it clear that he was aware that he had taken confidential material with him after leaving the White House.
Trump was the first ex-president in US history to be indicted in March, it was about a hush money payment to the porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. The trial in New York in the affair is scheduled to begin in the spring of next year – and thus in the middle in the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential nomination, in which Trump is the clear favorite.
Numerous investigations are ongoing
The US Department of Justice appointed the independent special counsel Smith in November to outsource the politically sensitive investigation into Trump. On the one hand, Smith takes care of the investigations in connection with secret government documents. Second, it addresses Trump’s role in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and his efforts to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. A committee of inquiry had recommended criminal investigations to the Ministry of Justice. Among other things, he accuses Trump of rioting, obstructing a public process and conspiring against the US government. However, the Committee’s recommendation is not binding.
Trump has long railed that his opponents are merely trying to prevent him from returning to the White House in 2024. He officially announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in November. So far, he’s ahead in polls among party supporters – but a lot can still happen before the final decision is made. Further investigations are ongoing against Trump. In the state of Georgia, the public prosecutor’s office is investigating Trump for possible election manipulation. In another case, Trump has already been prosecuted – at least indirectly. His real estate group was fined in New York for tax fraud, among other things. The ex-president was not personally accused.