Trump Target Letter Over Jan. 6 Mentions Conspiracy, Tampering

[aubiefifty 18,259]

 

rollingstone.com

 

Trump Target Letter Over Jan. 6 Mentions Conspiracy, Tampering

Jana Winter

3–4 minutes

---

Skip to main content  

Special Counsel’s Jan. 6 Target Letter to Trump Mentions Conspiracy, Tampering

The letter does not mention statutes relating to insurrection or sedition, a source tells Rolling Stone

A guy who sure seems to be on the cusp of a third criminal indictment ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images

The special counsel’s letter to Donald Trump related to Jan. 6 listed the federal statutes under which Trump is expected to be charged, including conspiracy, obstruction, and civil rights violations, according to a source with knowledge of the contents of the target letter.

Special counsel Jack Smith sent the letter to Trump on Sunday, informing him he was a target of the Justice Department. Trump on Tuesday announced he’d been sent the letter via a post on the social media platform Truth Social.

The letter mentions three federal statutes: Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States; deprivation of rights under color of law; and tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant. It does not offer further details, nor does it detail how the special counsel believes Trump may have violated the statutes, the source tells Rolling Stone.

The letter does not mention statutes on sedition or insurrection, according to the source. Trump is the only person named in the letter, the source says.

The source said the statutes listed likely refer to the prosecutor’s interest in charging Trump with obstructing the election certification process, including Trump efforts to pressure Mike Pence to stop the certification of President Biden’s 2020 victory.

A spokesperson for the Special Counsel did not immediately return requests for comment.

A Trump spokesperson also did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.

A spokesperson for the DOJ declined Rolling Stone’s request for comment.

Target letters are often sent in the final stages of an investigation, often offering a defendant an opportunity to provide testimony or other information before an indictment. The target letter invited Trump to testify before the grand jury in Washington D.C., the source says.

The special counsel’s office has already indicted Trump over taking sensitive federal documents to his Mar-a-Lago compound and story him there. That indictment came shortly after Trump was sent a target letter.