Looming Trump Jan. 6 indictment could come Tuesday

A federal grand jury probing efforts to block the transition of power following the 2020 election could soon return an indictment against former President Trump.

The grand jury has tended to meet Tuesdays and Thursdays. Several recent signals suggest an indictment is imminent, and Trump himself predicted that charges could come “any day now.”

“I assume that an Indictment from Deranged Jack Smith and his highly partisan gang of Thugs, pertaining to my ‘PEACEFULLY & PATRIOTICALLY Speech, will be coming out any day now, as yet another attempt to cover up all the bad news about bribes, payoffs, and extortion, coming from the Biden ‘camp.’ This seems to be the way they do it. ELECTION INTERFERENCE! PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.

So far, an indictment has not surfaced in the investigation, but signs point to one looming.

Expectations of charges in the probe have grown ever since Trump publicly indicated that he received a target letter from the Justice Department. The letters are typically sent when prosecutors believe they have enough evidence to bring charges against an individual.

In the classified documents case, prosecutors sent Trump a target letter 20 days before he was indicted, court filings show. Trump has said he received a target letter in the Jan. 6 probe July 16, just over two weeks ago.

Adding to the anticipation, Trump’s attorneys huddled Thursday with special counsel Jack Smith’s office as the grand jury was meeting in Washington, D.C. A similar meeting occurred between Trump’s attorneys and prosecutors in the classified documents case June 5, just three days before a grand jury voted on charges.

Trump’s legal battles took a twist later Thursday, however, as Smith’s office unveiled a superseding indictment in the classified documents case in Florida.

Prosecutors revealed one new charge of willful retention of documents and two new obstruction charges, accusing the former president of working with two aides to attempt to delete surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago. 

One of the aides, Walt Nauta, was already charged in the case, but prosecutors Thursday also added Carlos De Oliveira, the second worker, as a co-defendant.

Trump has repeatedly lambasted Smith in recent days after the new round of charges, and the former president’s attacks have continued as attention returns to grand jury activity in D.C. this week.

Media organizations have parked satellite trucks outside D.C.’s federal courthouse, where the grand jury meets, and reporters have been staking out the closed-door proceedings.

Beyond the Jan. 6 probe, another indictment is potentially looming in Georgia, where Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has advised court officials she could bring charges in the high-profile case in roughly the first half of August.

“The work is accomplished. We’ve been working for two-and-a-half years. We’re ready to go,” Willis told 11Alive on Saturday.