This story has become Chinese water torture. It won’t shock me if Donald Trump is indicted in the classified document probe under Special Counsel Jack Smith. Mike Davis, a former clerk for Neil Gorsuch and one of Trump’s staunchest defenders during this fiasco, admitted on Twitter that an indictment was likely. Trump’s social media activity suggests that the former president has accepted he could face another trial next year. His lawyers met with Justice Department officials this week after audio recordings of Trump discussing removing some items from the White House were revealed. The case is nonsense, another political witch hunt, but one that could get a trial date which means the GOP frontrunner as of today could be facing multiple trials in 2024. We cannot run a national campaign with that many distractions. The latest update is that federal prosecutors have informed Mr. Trump that he’s the subject of a criminal investigation (via Politico):
Federal prosecutors have notified former President Donald Trump in a letter that he is the target of a criminal investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter.
That notification is the clearest signal, yet that special counsel Jack Smith is on the verge of a charging decision in his probe of the former president. Trump is under investigation for concealing reams of classified documents at his private estate and orchestrating a scheme to prevent federal authorities from finding them.
[…]
In recent weeks, Smith has hauled in several figures in Trump’s inner circle before the grand jury investigating the documents case — including one of his attorneys, Evan Corcoran, after a legal battle over attorney-client privilege. A former Trump spokesperson, Taylor Budowich, acknowledged Wednesday that he spent the morning in front of a related grand jury impaneled in Florida.
The recent moves have signaled that Smith’s probe was nearing a likely charging decision, which now appears days, if not hours, away. The letter to Trump is yet another indication. The Justice Department manual provides that prosecutors may send a “target letter” to those who are likely to be charged in connection with a grand jury probe, giving them an opportunity to testify before an indictment comes down.
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Garland Special Counsel Jack Smith will indict Trump.
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) May 26, 2023
Reason for unprecedented, unnecessary, unlawful raid on former president?
Get back Trump's declassified Crossfire Hurricane records.
Allowed to have under Presidential Records Act.
But so damning for Obama, Biden, Hillary. https://t.co/WWtOQmc9L7
In another investigation that Smith is overseeing, one involving the riot on January 6, Steve Bannon was issued a subpoena (via NBC News):
Former Trump White House official Steve Bannon has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., in connection with special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Jan. 6 and former President Donald Trump's efforts to stay in office, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The subpoena, for documents and testimony, was sent out in late May, the sources said. The grand jury investigating Trump's actions surrounding Jan. 6 and in connection with efforts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power is separate from the grand jury in Miami that heard testimony on Wednesday about Trump's handling of classified documents.
It's death by 1,000 legal cuts, and it’s working. We can howl about how it’s based on political animus, which it is, but if it gets a trial date, you can’t ignore the ripple effect this has on the whole election for the GOP.
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