Prosecutors tell Trump lawyers he is target of classified docs probe: reports

WASHINGTON: US prosecutors have told Donald Trump´s lawyers that he is the target of a probe into his handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency, in a sign he might be indicted, US media reported late on Wednesday night.The notice came from the office of special counsel Jack Smith, The New York Times, CNN and other news outlets said, and gives the clearest sign yet that prosecutors are moving closer to charging the former president, who is seeking a return to the White House in 2024. The Times, citing “two people familiar with the matter”, said it was not clear when Trump´s team had been told he was the subject of the investigation.

Special counsel Smith, named by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been looking into a cache of classified documents that Trump had stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House.The FBI carted away some 11,000 papers after serving a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August, and Trump could face obstruction-of-justice charges after spending months resisting efforts to recover the trove. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. “No one has told me I´m being indicted, and I shouldn´t be because I´ve done NOTHING wrong,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network Wednesday.

“I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI,” said Trump, who has already been indicted in a separate case. Investigators have been scrutinizing several suspected attempts to obstruct them from getting access to documents and footage from a security camera near the storeroom at Mar-a-Lago where documents were kept. Trump has openly acknowledged taking and storing the documents, undermining his lawyers´ suggestion that he took the stash inadvertently in the confusion of a chaotic departure.