Attorneys representing former President Donald Trump met with prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington on July 27. They pleaded his case that he committed no wrongdoing in connection with the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Do not trust the fake news on anything,” the former president wrote.
“My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong.”
He noted that many lawyers had advised that “an indictment of me would only further destroy our country.”
The meeting came nine days after the former president publicly revealed that he had received a “target letter” from the office of special counsel Jack Smith.
That letter notified Mr. Trump that he was the target of a grand jury probe stemming from his challenge of the 2020 election results naming Democrat Joe Biden the winner and culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with Jan. 6-related offenses.
Mr. Trump has never conceded to Mr. Biden and has continued to insist that the election was “rigged” or “stolen.” However, numerous attempts to challenge the election results in court cases failed.
The former president and his lawyers say he was exercising his First Amendment right to speak out against the election.
Since Mr. Trump’s July 18 revelation of the target letter, reports have leaked about its purported contents while speculation has swirled around what charges Mr. Trump might face.
A spokesman for Mr. Trump’s campaign declined to comment on the attorneys’ meeting with the DOJ. One of his lawyers who reportedly participated in the meeting, Tampa, Florida, attorney John Lauro, didn’t respond by press time to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
Looming Indictment
Because grand juries operate in secret, the status of their work on the Jan. 6 case was supposed to remain confidential.As of late afternoon on July 27, no update was announced. The timing of any potential indictment remains unknown. Mr. Smith’s office has declined to comment about the meeting.
However, observers note that Mr. Trump’s attorneys held a similar meeting with DOJ prosecutors just days before a Florida grand jury indicted him on federal charges last month.
In the Florida case, Mr. Trump and his aide, Walt Nauta, are accused of mishandling government documents with classified markings. They’ve pleaded not guilty and are set for trial in May 2024.
In a separate case, Mr. Trump faces state charges in New York. That case involves allegations that he created false business records to hide reimbursement of a hush-money payment.
The former president maintains that all the cases against him are politically motivated and aimed at hobbling his bid for the Oval Office. However, Democrats maintain that no one is above the law.
Despite his legal woes, Mr. Trump remains potential voters’ No. 1 choice as the GOP nominee in national opinion polls. The RealClearPolitics average of the latest polling shows him with a 34-point lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Mr. Trump was drawing 52 percent of the theoretical votes versus 18 percent support for Mr. DeSantis. Some supporters and pundits say that some of the continued support of Mr. Trump stems from a backlash against the alleged “weaponization” of the criminal justice system.
After posting his statement about his lawyers’ meeting with the DOJ prosecutors, Mr. Trump went back to the business of promoting his third run for the presidency.
He posted on Truth Social the latest in a string of opinion polls showing him as the runaway leader for the GOP’s presidential nomination in the 2024 election.
Mr. Trump has expressed his determination to continue fighting against the two indictments he already faces while also campaigning to regain the White House.
He has two campaign events scheduled in key states this weekend: A Lincoln Day Dinner in Iowa on July 28 and a rally in Erie County, Pennsylvania, on July 29.
