Federal prosecutors have notified President Donald Trump’s legal team that he is a target of the criminal investigation into his handling of classified documents. multiple reports.
The move, first reported by The Guardian, reflects a major uptick in the investigation and comes amid reports that Justice Department special prosecutor Jack Smith was almost done collecting testimonies and evidence in the case. Prosecutors are also using a Florida grand jury in their investigation as those in the Trump camp fear charges against the former president are imminent.
The developments only add to Trump’s legal jeopardy after state officials recovered hundreds of classified files from his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort and residence more than a year after he left the White House. Prosecutors are investigating whether Trump attempted to impede the administration’s efforts to obtain those documents, an effort that lasted months before the FBI conducted a shocking search of his home on August 8, 2022.
Trump hinted in recent days that he thought he was about to face charges in the case, and three of his lawyers met with Justice Department officials Monday in an apparent last-minute attempt to raise concerns about the investigation.
The former president reacted furiously to the reports on Wednesday, tellingly The New York Times he has not communicated directly with Justice Department prosecutors and that it was not “true” that he was told he would be charged.
“Nobody told me I’m being sued,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “And I shouldn’t be, because I did NOTHING wrong, but I’ve assumed for years that I’m a target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI.”
Trump has maintained he had a right to take the files under the Presidential Records Act, claiming he had a standing order to release anything he removed from the Oval Office. At a town hall-style CNN event last month, he added that when his presidency ended, boxes of files were “lined up on the sidewalk” and “everyone new we took.”
But federal prosecutors reportedly obtained a recording of the former president discussing a sensitive military document he said he took with him, claiming to know it was classified. The tape could undermine his claims and fuel the investigation.
