Legal experts and conservative political pundits were highly vocal in their response following a claim made by former President Donald Trump on Tuesday that he had been notified by a letter indicating his status as a target of the Justice Department’s investigation into the events of the January 6th riot.
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday morning that he is expecting to be arrested and indicted after receiving a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith telling the Republican he is “target of the January 6th grand jury investigation.”
The Sunday letter gave Trump “4 days to report to the Grand Jury,” the former president claimed, as reported by Fox News.
“Jack Smith sending President Trump a target letter and then indicating he has to appear in front of the Grand Jury makes no sense,” Brett Tolman, former U.S. attorney and the executive director of Right on Crime, noted on Twitter.
“Rarely do you put a target in front of the GJ. They will plead the 5th and you run the risk of compromising your case given Due Process rights,” he added.
Jack Smith sending President Trump a target letter and then indicating he has to appear in front of the Grand Jury makes no sense. Rarely do you put a target in front of the GJ. They will plead the 5th and you run the risk of compromising your case given Due Process rights.
— Brett L. Tolman (@tolmanbrett) July 18, 2023
“I was harassed for hours by the Jack Smith grand jury as his anti-Trump prosecutors argued with me about challenges to the 2020 election, including whether or not I watched Trump’s election night speech,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton added.
“Having witnessed firsthand their abuse of power, no surprise these partisans now want to arrest Trump on political charges. This is a dire threat to the rule of law,” he continued.
Radio host and author Mark Levin added on the platform: “Conservatives and Republicans everywhere should be furious with the SOB rogue Biden prosecutor, the AG who’s approving this farce, and the undeniable DOJ/FBI campaign to destroy Trump and re-elect Biden.”
Julie Kelly, author and senior contributor to news site American Greatness, responded that it is possible Trump will be charged with seditious conspiracy. If he is and he’s convicted of that crime, then he becomes ineligible to run for any federal office, including the presidency, per the Constitution.
I’ve warned of this for over a year.
I take no pride in being right.
Only question now is what charges Smith will bring (strong possibility he’ll seek indictment on seditious conspiracy) and who is charged with him. (Any conspiracy charge requires at least one conspirator) https://t.co/BeLCpvloeM
— Julie Kelly ?? (@julie_kelly2) July 18, 2023
“Kind of crazy to think that had he illegally bought a gun, lied on the background check form, laundered money, evaded taxes, accepted bribes from foreign oligarchs, and smuggled cocaine into the WH, DOJ would’ve looked the other way,” Federalist CEO Sean Davis tweeted, in reference to the DOJ’s nothingburger investigation into Hunter Biden.
“Instead he told people to protest peacefully,” he added.
“The continued politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice has turned our institutions into enforcers for the Biden administration’s partisan priorities,” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz posted. “It remains deeply harmful to the rule of law.”