Katelyn, what can you tell us about.
Number one,
what Trump is saying
no to what you have heard about this
supposedly leave him getting or him
putting this out
that he is
the target of a January
six investigation.
Yeah, guys.
So we have been watching to see
what's bubbling behind the scenes
because it's felt like something
has been right.
In this January six investigation
being conducted
by the special counsel's office
for some time now.
And indeed, we are getting this statement
from Donald Trump posting on True Social.
Also sending out a statement
saying that the Justice Department,
the special counsel,
Jack Smith, has sent him a letter
stating
that he is a target of the January six
grand jury investigation.
So that's a federal investigation
that has been for months
looking into both
his actions in the White House,
other actions
that he may have taken
after the 2020 election,
as well as actions of others around him,
fake electors
all kinds of different schemes
that were to support
Donald Trump
and overturn his loss in the election.
Those things had been investigated
and he is saying he has received
a target letter
giving him four days
to appear before a grand jury.
We believe that grand jury
would be in Washington, D.C.,
if he would choose.
And I should step back and explain
what a target letter is,
because it is one of the things
that the Justice Department
does at the very end of an investigation.
It let someone know.
Yes, we are looking at potentially
charging you.
We are very close to a charging decision
and we want to make sure
you have your rights preserved
and that if you want to come in
as the target of this investigation,
as someone who could be charged,
very likely would be charged.
If you want to come in
and explain yourself
on the record
to the federal grand jury
that has been looking at you
as the potential target,
as the person possibly charged,
you have the opportunity to
And so Donald
Trump is saying
that he received
this notice on Sunday night
and is being given the four days
to consider
whether he wants
to come into the grand jury
Like I said, one of the last things
that typically happens
in an investigation like this,
a very similar thing
played out in the weeks before
Donald Trump was indicted
in the southern district of Florida
in a separate investigation
in that documents
investigation
that we're also watching
for activity on today
But this is the January 6th
investigation, one
where we've watched
the grand jury closely.
It appears it is coming to an end.
And now this very firm
signal from the Justice Department,
from the special counsel
that Donald Trump may be indicted
related to January six, his actions
after the 2020 election
and giving him
a final opportunity
to come in and speak to the grand jury
if he chooses.
He did not choose to do so.
In the Florida
investigation,
also conducted by Smith's office
related to
the documents held at Mar
a Lago after the presidency.
It does not appear that he is happy
with receiving this news.
He's quite offended,
saying it's horrifying news
and that it happened on Sunday night
when he received notice
from his attorneys
who was with his family.
And so at this point in time,
there isn't really an expectation
Trump would go in
and speak to a grand jury.
But we are going to be
watching very closely
what happens in the federal courthouse
in Washington in the coming days.
We know that there's
a grand jury meeting today
that has been investigating
Trump and January 6th.
And it sounds very likely
that they also may be meeting
this Thursday
and could be looking
at a potential indictment
of the former president for actions
he took
at the end of his presidency
to hold on to power.
Caitlin, thank you so much
for bringing us that.
Just to recap the big news
that we're laying out
in this social media post.
Donald Trump says
Sunday night
he received a letter from
the special counsel saying
that he is a target of the January 6th
grand jury investigation.
And now of this is Kaitlan
is laying out very big questions
of what this means going for.
Let me read
you read the two sisters interests here
so people can figure out
what exactly was said.
Again, this is said by Donald Trump
at this point.
He is the source of this information.
He wrote Deranged Jack Smith,
the prosecutor with Joe
Biden's DOJ, sent a letter again,
it was Sunday night
stating that I am a target
and targets
in all caps of the January six
grand jury investigation
and giving me a very short four days
to report to the grand jury,
which almost always means an arrest
and an indictment.
That, again,
was the statement
posted by Donald Trump himself,
who is right now
the source of this information,
that he is a target of the January 6th
investigation,
which is a major development.
If so, let's go to Paula Reed
I understand
we have Paula Reid, who is in Florida,
who can weigh in on this. Paula,
It is incredibly
significant because special counsel
Jack Smith is conducting
two separate
investigations into the former president
and some of his associates.
One of those is into the possible
mishandling of classified documents.
That's why we're in Florida today.
There is a hearing,
the first hearing
before the Trump appointed
judge is going to oversee that case.
In court today,
we expect them
to talk about a trial date,
which is significant
because at the core of Trump's
legal strategy
is an effort to delay this trial
at least until after the 20, 24 election.
Now, he's also under investigation
for efforts to overturn
the 2020 election.
And it was not clear.
It was just not clear
if he would be charged.
But as he indicates in this statement,
which we have not verified
independently
with the Special Counsel's Office,
he suggests that he has received
a target letter which he is correct,
usually means that an indictment
is going to be coming soon.
Now he has the opportunity
to go before the grand jury.
It is unlikely he will do that.
He did not do that
after receiving
a target letter in the Mar
a Lago investigation.
But it will be interesting
to see what happens over
the next few hours here
because his legal team,
they're expected in court here in Florida
in just a few short hours, likely
going to face a lot of questions
from reporters
who are here to cover his other
ongoing criminal trial
All right, Paula Reid in Florida.
Stand by.
Much more for you in just a moment.
All right.
Let's go to our Ellie Honig,
who is here to give us some sense
of what all of this means
First of all, Donald Trump
making very clear this is his statement.
We have not confirmed that
this actually has happened yet,
but saying he's received
this target letter
and that it definitely means
he is going to be arrested and charged.
Is he correct?
He's mostly correct,
assuming that this is true,
assuming that DOJ has actually sent
a formal target letter.
What that means
is that DOJ believes Donald
Trump is a, quote, putative
meaning a very likely defendant
and that DOJ has evidence
linking him to a crime.
You do not have to send a target letter
at the Justice Department,
but it's common practice.
And we know Jack
Smith sends
Target letters
because within a week or so of the Mar
a Lago indictment, Jack
Smith did, in fact, send
a Target letter to Donald Trump.
So assuming that has happened again here,
this is a very telling moment
into this investigation.
What's the process now?
So the process is Jack
Smith has sent this letter.
Donald Trump
will again,
assuming the truth of this, be
given four days
to appear in the grand jury.
If he wants, he will not do that.
That would be incredibly self
damaging to do that.
Jack Smith
now can control
if and when the grand jury
votes on an indictment,
assuming he gets to a point
where he believes,
I've given the grand jury my evidence.
Jack Smith can
then go into the grand jury
with a draft indictment
saying, here are the defendants.
I propose to charge here
the charges
I propose to bring
and then instruct
the grand jury as to the law
and then take a vote from the grand jury.
And assuming they vote yes,
which grand juries almost always do.
Then we will have an indictment.
Now, it could be sealed for a while.
Me neither.
Could be a moment in time where we know
that there is an indictment,
but we don't actually get to see it.
So that's what we're looking at.
And again,
according to this, on a fairly short
timeframe and the Mar
a Lago documents case,
he received a target letter.
He was indicted within days, within days.
In this case,
he is saying he received a target letter.
That is why there is an expectation
that he could be indicted in the Mar
a Lago documents case.
His lawyers
also went in to meet
with Justice
Department lawyers
to basically talk him out of charging,
which is what happens.
We don't know
if there has been that meeting.
Would that happen before
or after a target letter typically.
So there is no rule on that.
You typically would give a person's
defense lawyers
a last chance to come in and try to talk
you out of it.
That did happen in the Mar a Lago case.
We don't know if that's happened here.
It's possible that that happened
and we don't know about it publicly.
It's possible
they did it by a phone call or a zoom
or some location
that we weren't able to spot it.
But both of those things,
given Jack Smith's
tendencies, would signal end game to.