Trump dismisses looming Jan 6 indictment: ‘Do not trust the Fake News’

Ex-president played down the possibility that he could face a third criminal case against him this week

Former president Donald Trump on Thursday urged people following him on his Truth Social website not to heed legitimate news outlets’ reporting on the looming indictment that could soon be approved against him by a Washington, DC grand jury.

Mr Trump took to his bespoke social media platform in the early afternoon to confirm that his defence team had concluded what he described as a “productive meeting” with Department of Justice representatives, including Jack Smith, the special counsel currently supervising multiple investigations into his conduct.

He also stated that his legal team spent the session “explaining in detail that [he] did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of [him] would only further destroy our Country”.

The former president, who on 18 July admitted that prosecutors had notified him that he is a target of Mr Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol, is understood to be facing the possibility of charges under three federal criminal statutes: conspiracy to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law, and witness tampering.

While Mr Trump’s lawyers were reportedly told to expect that the grand jury will vote in favour of approving charges against him, the ex-president said “no indication of notice” was provided to his counsel and closed his missive with an exhortation to his followers: “Do not trust the Fake News on anything!”

The grand jury that could vote on charges against Mr Trump was understood to be meeting with the possibility of being asked to vote on Thursday.

A source close to Mr Trump told The Independent that the ex-president’s defence team was not given any guidance on when an indictment might be returned, even though they were told one should be expected. According to multiple reports, court employees have said the grand jury did not vote on any indictments on Thursday and no votes were expected during the day’s session.

The ex-president is already a defendant in two other criminal matters that are set to go to trial next year — a case in his former home state of New York over falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments to an adult film star in 2016, and a federal indictment brought against him in the Southern District of Florida for allegedly unlawfully retaining national defence information and obstructing justice. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

Additionally, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia is also expected to vote on charging Mr Trump and others in his orbit for crimes committed as he attempted to reverse Peach State election results after he became the first Republican presidential candidate in decades to lose there.

Mr Smith, who in November was appointed to supervise the multiple federal probes into the ex-president by US Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been presenting evidence to a Washington DC grand jury regarding Mr Trump’s efforts to remain in office despite having lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

The grand jurors, who meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays and were seen arriving at the E Barrett Prettyman courthouse around the same time Mr Trump’s lawyers were reported to have arrived at Mr Smith’s offices, have heard from numerous top ex-Trump administration officials, including former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, ex-Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration head Chris Krebs, and former vice president Mike Pence.