Trump criminal target letter in election probe cites laws on conspiracy, witness tampering

The target letter that special counsel Jack Smith recently sent lawyers for former President Donald Trump mentions three federal criminal statutes, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering, NBC News reported Wednesday.

The target letter also mentions a third criminal statute, deprivation of rights under color of law, according to NBC, which cited two attorneys with direct knowledge of the letter.

Smith is investigating Trump and various allies of the former president for their efforts to reverse his loss in the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination in next year's presidential election.

Trump on Tuesday disclosed that Smith had sent his lawyers the letter, which is typically issued by the Department of Justice to give people a chance to testify to a grand jury after the discovery of substantial evidence linking them to a crime.

The details of the federal statutes mentioned letter were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Separately on Wednesday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Smith's prosecutors had subpoenaed surveillance video footage recorded at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta during vote counting there after the 2020 election.

Trump's campaign lawyers had used surveillance footage from the vote count to argue without success in December 2020 that Georgia's presidential election was tainted by fraud. Biden won Georgia's popular vote.

Smith last month charged Trump with about three dozen felonies related to his keeping classified documents at his Florida home after leaving the White House, and for allegedly obstructing government officials when they tried to recover those records from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case. His lawyers have asked the judge in that case to delay trial until at least after the 2024 presidential election.