Former US President Donald Trump has said he expects to be arrested by a federal investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election. In a social media post, he said he was informed by special counsel Jack Smith on Sunday night that he was a target of their inquiry. Trump posted that he was told to report to a grand jury, "which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment". The special counsel did not immediately respond to media inquiries. Such an indictment would be Trump's third for alleged criminal offenses, including 37 charges brought by Smith's team in June accusing the president of mishandling classified documents. Trump has also been charged in New York with falsifying business records related to 2016 hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He is due to stand trial in that case next March, while a date for the classified document's case is still being contested by the president's lawyers. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that he had been sent a letter "stating that I am a TARGET of the Jan. 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment." Smith was appointed special counsel by US Attorney General Merrick Garland shortly after Trump announced his presidential campaign last autumn. His team was tasked with investigating Trump's handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency and of managing a sprawling federal investigation into the attack on the US Capitol attack and attempts by Trump and his advisers to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Smith's investigation has involved interviews with dozens of top Trump administration officials and advisers, including former Vice-President Mike Pence and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as state officials who have said that Trump pressured them to discard the election results. The special counsel's office has not discussed what specific criminal violations they are considering, but Garland tasked him with investigating efforts to "interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote". According to public comments by some who have testified before the grand jury convened by the special counsel, questions have focused on efforts by Trump's team to organize slates of "fake electors" who would claim that the former president defeated Democrat Joe Biden in seven key battleground states. State prosecutors in Atlanta, Georgia, are also investigating the former president on similar grounds, focusing on whether he illegally pressured state officials there to discard Biden's victory. In a December 2020 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump asked that Georgia officials "find 11,780 votes" that would flip the state to Trump. A decision by Georgia prosecutors on whether to indict Trump is expected in August. Trump is currently the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, with double-digit polling leads over his nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. That lead has grown over the course of the past four months, even as his first two indictments were announced. He has frequently painted the investigations — and indictments — as an attempt by his political opponents to prevent him from returning to the White House. The former president's team has said that both indictments led to a surge in fundraising for his campaign. In recently released figures, Trump raised more than $17 million for his campaign from April to June, with millions more directed to an account that could be used to help finance his legal defense team. — BBC
