(new: reactions)
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – The former US President donald trump expects to be indicted soon in connection with the violent storming of the US Parliament on January 6, 2021. Special Counsel Jack Smith informed him in a letter on Sunday that he was the target of the investigation and that he should report to a jury – a so-called grand jury – within four days, Trump said on Tuesday. This almost always means an arrest and indictment. The 77-year-old wants to run again for the Republicans in next year’s presidential election.
It would be the second federal charge for the Republican and the third felony charge. Trump was indicted in a federal court in the US metropolis of Miami in mid-June because he had kept top-secret government documents in his Mar-a-Lago property after his term in office and had not returned them when requested. Trump pleaded not guilty.
Special investigator has been collecting evidence for months
The Justice Department had used the special counsel in November to outsource the politically sensitive investigations into the ex-president. Smith handles both the classified documents affair and the Republican’s role in Trump supporters’ attack on the Capitol. He has been checking for months whether there is enough evidence to take legal action. Trump clearly lost the 2020 election against Democrat Joe Biden – but still does not accept the defeat and spreads the lie about election fraud.
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters finally stormed the seat of the US Congress in Washington, where the election defeat was to be formally confirmed. A crowd incited by Trump violently entered Congress, killing five people. Trump had previously publicly called on his deputy Mike Pence to block the procedure for certifying Biden’s election victory. However, Pence adhered to the Constitution.
Committee recommends indictment
In December, a congressional committee of inquiry accused Trump of several offenses in this regard and recommended that the Justice Department take action against Trump. However, the recommendations are not binding. The House Committee, like the Special Counsel, was investigating Trump’s role in efforts to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
At the time, the panel accused Trump, among other things, of inciting the crowd to riot. It also recommended investigations into Trump and others involved for obstruction of a public hearing, conspiracy against the US government and making false allegations to the state.
support from their own party
Trump criticized the investigation as a whole as politically motivated. On Tuesday, he wrote on the Internet portal “Truth Social”, which he co-founded, that it was once again a witch hunt aimed at preventing him from moving back into the White House.
Leading Republicans such as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed their solidarity with him. McCarthy said President Biden’s administration is weaponizing the special counsel in the 2024 election to crack down on Biden’s main opponent. “That’s wrong, and the American public is fed up with it.” The White House initially did not comment on the events.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who wants to defeat Trump in the party’s internal primaries, also spoke of a politicization of the Justice Department and the FBI. At the same time, he emphasized that Trump should have positioned himself more clearly on January 6, 2021. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, who is also running against Trump, told CNN: “We shouldn’t continue to deal with this drama or the negativity.”
So far, Trump is ahead in polls among party supporters – but a lot can still happen before the final decision is made.
Other legal construction sites
Further investigations are ongoing against the ex-president. All eyes were on a case in New York earlier this spring. At the beginning of April, Trump was criminally charged in connection with the payment of hush money to a porn star in New York. Trump was the first ex-president in US history to be charged with a crime. He pleaded “not guilty”. The public prosecutor’s office accuses the Republican, among other things, of violating campaign finance laws by making the payment.
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. Trump was not personally accused./trö/DP/he