As charges pile up, « Trump may be campaigning as a defendant in four criminal cases, » ex-prosecutor says.
Former President Donald Trump, who remains engulfed in legal battles and has already been criminally indicted twice, could soon be indicted in a third case, further deepening the political tension around his 2024 election campaign.
Trump said on Tuesday that he received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith notifying him that he is a target of his investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, indicating that he could soon face charges.
Legal experts told Salon that target letters usually present an opportunity for targets to testify before the grand jury and present evidence before they are indicted. Trump received a similar letter before he was charged in the classified documents case.
But Smith’s letter to Trump regarding his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election could also « accelerate » Judge Aileen Cannon’s timeline for the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, Javed Ali, a former senior counterterrorism official at the Department of Homeland Security, told Salon.
« The degree of coordination between special counsel Smith’s investigation and Judge Cannon’s trial is unclear however, and the Department of Justice will likely have to ensure that both sides do not run afoul of each other’s respective efforts, » Ali said.
