Donald Trump says he is the target of a criminal investigation in the 2020 US election

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Donald Trump says he is the target of a criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election, raising the prospect that he could face new federal charges in the coming days.

In a development he described as “terrible”, Trump said he had received a letter from the Department of Justice informing him that he was the target of an investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Trump said the letter from special counsel Jack Smith, who is handling the investigation, gave him a scant four days to report to the grand jury, which almost always means arrest and indictment. The DoJ declined to comment.

According to DoJ guidelines, during federal grand jury investigations, prosecutors typically notify targets prior to seeking indictment so that they can be given a chance to testify.

The new criminal charges deepen the legal risks facing Trump as he campaigns for another term as president. Last month, federal prosecutors opened an indictment charging him with 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified government documents. That indictment, filed days after Trump announced he had received a letter from the DoJ, was also brought by Smith.

Trump has vowed to continue his campaign despite mounting legal challenges.

In a lengthy post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump described the January 6 investigation as a “witch hunt” that was “about election interference and the complete and utter political weaponization of law enforcement”.

He accused US President Joe Biden of unfairly targeting him because he is the president’s “number one political rival, who largely dominates him in the presidential race”.

Trump remains the undisputed frontrunner in an increasingly crowded field of Republicans competing for the party’s nomination to challenge Biden in the 2024 presidential election.

Nearly half of Republican voters say they are supporting Trump in the primaries, according to a FiveThirtyEight average of national polls. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is running in second place with support from more than 20 percent of Republican voters. Trump’s other challengers, including former Vice President Mike Pence, are behind by single digits.

Many of Trump’s Republican rivals jumped to his defense on Tuesday, underscoring the former president’s grip on the party and its grassroots base. A vast majority of Republican voters support Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

Speaking at a campaign event in South Carolina, DeSantis said Trump “should have come out more forcefully” to stop the January 6 attack on the Capitol. But he criticized possible criminal charges, and accused Democrats of political interference, saying: “I think we want to be in a situation where, you know, you don’t have one side, just the other side constantly.” trying to contain the prison.”

Trump could face more legal problems in the coming weeks in the state of Georgia, where local prosecutors are also probing alleged interference in the 2020 election by the former president and others. If prosecutors there decide to bring their own indictment stemming from a separate special grand jury investigation, those potential charges could be filed later this summer.

In April, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a case brought by the Manhattan district attorney. He was accused of concealing “quiet money” payments made to a porn actress to silence her before the 2016 presidential election.