Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to speak to the press at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2023, announcing the unsealing of the indictment against former US President Donald Trump.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Lawyers for Donald Trump were told Thursday by prosecutors to expect an indictment against the former president in connection with his efforts to reverse his loss in the 2020 election, NBC News reported.
Trump’s lawyers Todd Blanche and John Lauro met Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., with prosecutors for Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith and were informed of the planned indictment, according to NBC.
Later Thursday, Trump in a social media post wrote, “My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country.”
“No indication of notice was given during the meeting — Do not trust the Fake News on anything!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, told CNBC in a text message, “NBC report is incorrect.”
At around the same time as the defense lawyers’ meeting with prosecutors, the grand jury that could soon vote on criminally charging Trump assembled in Washington federal court.
Multiple members of that panel were seen entering the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse at around 8:30 a.m. ET, NBC reported.
A number of those anonymous grand jurors were spotted in the cafeteria and then going to the grand jury room on the courthouse’s third floor, according to NBC.
Early Thursday afternoon, members of the U.S. Marshals Service, who are responsible for security at federal courts, met with officials from the U.S. Park Police and Washington, D.C., police department at the Prettyman courthouse, NBC reported.
Members of the U.S. Marshals are meeting with other members of law enforcement at the Prettyman federal courthouse ahead of an expected indictment against former President Donald Trump. Officials from U.S. Park Police and the Metropolitan Police Department were present.
Ryan Reilly | NBC News
Smith is overseeing the Justice Department’s criminal probe of Trump and his allies related to their attempts to prevent President Joe Biden from being confirmed as the winner of the 2020 race by the Electoral College and Congress.
That effort was based on false claims, spread broadly by Trump and his allies, that Biden only won as a result of widespread ballot fraud.
Trump last week revealed that Smith had told his lawyers on Sunday that the former president was a criminal target of that investigation and had been offered a four-day window to testify to the grand jury.
Trump, who declined the offer, noted that such notifications are typically made before the recipient is indicted.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would testify at any trial if he is indicted.
“We’ll have fun on the stand with all of these people that say the Presidential Election wasn’t Rigged and Stollen,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY!!!”
On Thursday, a joint fundraising committee, Trump Save America, for the second day in a row sent out an email citing his potential indictment.
“Any moment now, Crooked Joe’s corrupt ‘Justice’ Department could yet again INDICT yours truly on federal charges despite being a totally innocent man,” Trump says in the email. “But that means that in just a few days’ time, we have the opportunity to cement this moment in the history books as the moment the American people PROVED they would never bend the knee to the Left’s tin-pot dictatorship.”
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Smith, declined to comment to CNBC on Thursday.
Lawyers for Trump, and a spokesman for him, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Smith in early June obtained a grand jury indictment of Trump in Florida federal court on several dozen criminal counts related to his retention of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago club after he left office in early 2021.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case, which is scheduled to go to trial next year.
He has accused Smith and the DOJ of charging him and investigating him in an effort to harm his chances of winning the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and defeating Biden.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.