(Headline USA) Lawyers for former President Donald Trump met Thursday with members of weaponized special counsel Jack Smith’s team ahead of yet another potential indictment over the former president’s efforts to challenge the dubious and still highly disputed results of the 2020 election.
Trump himself confirmed the meeting in a post on his Truth Social network, writing, “My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country.”
He added that “no indication of notice was given during the meeting.”
It was not immediately clear what was discussed at the meeting, though a similar sit-down with lawyers occurred in the days before Trump was indicted last month on charges of illegally retaining classified documents following the unprecedented raid of his Mar-a-Lago resort ahead of the 2022 midterm election.
The DOJ buried similarly damning revelations concerning Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents in multiple locations—and while lacking the authority to declassify them under the Presidential Records Act—until two months after the election.
Thursday’s meeting included Trump attorney John Lauro, said the person familiar with the case, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to describe a private gathering. Lauro said in a television interview last week that his client had done “nothing wrong.”
The status of the secretive grand jury proceedings remained unclear Thursday despite building speculation that a criminal case could be near. By late in the afternoon, no indictment had been announced, and it was not clear if one would be by the end of the day. In a sign of heightened expectations, police officers were photographed gathered outside the courthouse.
Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, was informed earlier this month by Smith’s office that he was a target of the Justice Department’s investigation, suggesting that an indictment could be soon.
The investigation has focused on the turbulent two-month period after the November 2020 election. During that time, outrage over election-night irregularities in several swing states and the lack of proper remedy to address them through the courts—along with pent-up anger over months of COVID lockdowns, widespread censorship and politically motivated race-riots in major blue cities—culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising at the U.S. Capitol.
More than 1,000 people have since been charged with federal crimes for disrupting the congressional counting of electoral votes at the mostly peaceful, four-hour-long melee that briefly forced lawmakers into hiding.
Trump already has been acquitted once, by the U.S. Senate, for his alleged role in fomenting the protests after Democrats waged an unprecedented post-presidential impeachment campaign in an effort to block him from running for a second term.
They have not relented in the two intervening years, with Trump already having twice been indicted. In addition to Smith’s second expected indictment, Democrats are hoping for a fourth one from ethically challenged Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the near future.
Thus far, however, the lawfare efforts have only strengthened Trump’s support among his GOP base, which sees clearly through the politically motivated attacks and is eager for political retribution.
Whether they can succeed in waylaying his campaign legally, or at least tarnish his public standing among independent voters who have soured on the Biden adminsitration, remains to be seen.
A spokesman for Smith declined to comment on Thursday’s meeting. Lauro, Trump’s lawyer, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
