The ongoing various witch hunts involving the 45th president of the United States continue unabated.
According to NBC News, the federal grand jury tasked with examining evidence in the Biden Justice Department’s investigation into former President Trump’s handling of classified documents is anticipated to convene in Washington this week.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team of prosecutors has been presenting witness testimonies and other evidence to the grand jury for several months. However, recent weeks have seen a decrease in activity.
“It is unclear at this time whether prosecutors are prepared to seek an indictment at this time. Additionally, the Justice Department has not issued any comment on the status of the investigation,” Trending Politics reported on Sunday.
NBC News’ report highlights that the investigation focuses on two key legal aspects. Prosecutors are looking into whether Trump unlawfully kept classified documents following his departure from the White House.
They are also examining whether he “obstructed” the government’s attempts to recover those documents, which raises potential obstruction concerns.
In June 2022, federal agents conducted a raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in an effort to retrieve the classified materials. Trump’s legal team had been in communication with the National Archives during that period, but Attorney General Merrick Garland authorized the raid despite those interactions.
Federal agents retrieved approximately 300 classified documents during the raid. Trump’s legal team has asserted that White House staff had gathered and placed all documents, including the classified ones, into boxes at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump has denounced the investigation as a politically motivated attempt to tarnish his reputation, highlighting President Biden’s own alleged mishandling of classified documents. Notably, several classified documents were also discovered in a former office of the Penn-Biden Center in Philadelphia and on Biden’s property in Delaware.
If Smith opts to charge Trump, it will be the first time a former president has been indicted with a federal crime.