On Tuesday, comments made by Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis about former President Donald Trump in relation to the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, caused a social media uproar.
DeSantis asserted that Trump might have responded to the disturbance more “forcefully” during a press conference in South Carolina. DeSantis responded to Trump’s admission that he got a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith informing him that he is the subject of a grand jury investigation into the events of January 6. DeSantis is challenging Trump and other GOP candidates for the Republican nomination for president.
“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
DeSantis advocated against prosecuting Trump for his actions despite suggesting that he ought to have acted more that day.
“So look, there’s a difference between being brought up on criminal charges and doing things like, for example, I think it was shown how he was in the White House and didn’t do anything while, while things were going on. He should have come out more forcefully, of course, that. But to try to criminalize that, that’s a different issue entirely, and I think that we want to be in a situation where, you know, you don’t have one side just constantly trying to put the other side in jail. And that unfortunately is what we’re seeing now,” DeSantis argued.
Leftwing CNN’s report on the matter states that “A target letter from federal prosecutors to Trump makes clear that prosecutors are focused on Trump’s actions in the investigation into overturning the 2020 election – and not just of those around him who tried to stop his election loss.”
“Justice Department regulations allow for prosecutors to notify subjects of an investigation that they have become a target. Often a notification that a person is a target is a strong sign an indictment could follow, but it is possible the recipient is not ultimately charged. Those notifications aren’t required, but prosecutors have the discretion to notify subjects that they have become a target. Once informed, a target has the opportunity to present evidence or testify to the grand jury if they choose,” the outlet added. the site noted.
Trump claimed to have gotten the letter on Sunday and stated that he anticipates being detained as well as being charged.
Smith is also targeting Trump for the way he handled the sensitive papers that were discovered at Mar-a-Lago last year.
In June, Trump arrived in Miami for his arraignment for the case Smith, who was chosen by Biden’s Department of Justice, had filed against him. Via his attorneys, Trump entered a “not guilty” plea in the court.
The indictment claims that on at least two separate occasions, Trump exposed a number of individuals who lacked the necessary security clearances to classified information. Both incidents allegedly took place at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, according to the DOJ.
Trump has been accused on 37 occasions by Smith of handling secret documents improperly.
Last month, Timothy Parlatore, a former Trump criminal defense attorney, claimed that the investigation into former President Donald Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after his presidency may not make it to the courts for trial.
Paraltore, who served as Trump’s criminal defense attorney up until last month, spoke on the matter about Trump appearing in Miami in June of 2023 for his arraignment in the mishandling of documents case brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Biden’s Department of Justice.
Donald Trump took up a non-guilty plea in federal court. However, if he is found guilty on all of the thirty-seven counts, he could face decades in prison. This outcome would be really tidy for the Biden administration in terms of getting him re-elected in next year’s race. Trump has always been regarded as Biden’s chief rival, so with him conveniently out of the picture, Biden may get his wish of a second term.
Parlatore reasoned that the case has several fundamental flaws, the grand jury process and breaches of attorney-client privilege in particular. He believes that the entire case may end up being thrown out as a result.
He suggested that Trump’s attorneys should “attack the conduct of the entire investigation and show through death by a thousand cuts why this entire investigation is irreparably tainted by government misconduct,” adding, “The case, therefore, should be dismissed or, at a minimum, the prosecutor should be disqualified.”
Furthermore, the federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents indictment has come up with some bad news for the prosecutorial team.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who had been appointed to her position by Trump during his term, declined special counsel Jack Smith’s teams’ request to delay a preliminary hearing in the case involving not only Trump, but his valet Walt Nauta, as well, that was intended to take place Friday, July 14. ABC News states that Cannon agreed to a rescheduled date for the hearing to be July 18.
