Miami, July 19 (RHC)-- Former U.S. President Donald Trump says he has been notified by the Department of Justice that he could face criminal charges for his role in the January 6, 2021 riot at Capitol Hill.
Trump, who has announced to make another White House bid, has been under federal investigation over his role in the January 6 violent protest, when his supporters stormed Congress in a bid to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. The protesters contended that Biden was not the legitimate winner of the election.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that special counsel Jack Smith had notified him via a letter on Sunday about the development.
"Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden's DOJ, sent a letter... stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6 Grand Jury investigation," Trump wrote.
Trump has criticized the Department of Justice probe into his role in the Capitol riots and called it a "continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History."
It was not immediately clear what specific charges Trump may face.
Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican party's presidential nomination, said he was given "a very short four days" to report to a grand jury, "which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment."
"This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement," he said. "It is a very sad and dark period for our Nation!"
Candidates in the Republican Party primary field have given their initial reaction to the news, with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley reiterating the need for a generational change in the party to move on from what she described as the distractions of the Trump era.
“The rest of this primary election is going to be in reference to Trump, is going to be about lawsuits, is going to be about legal fees, it’s going to be about judges and it’s going to continue to be a further and further distraction,” she said.
“And that is why I am running. It’s because we need a new generational leader. We can’t keep dealing with this drama. We can’t keep dealing with the negativity," Haley added.
Donald Trump became the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as he pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom on Tuesday to dozens of felony counts. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson also reiterated his call for Trump to suspend his 2024 campaign.
“I have said from the beginning that Donald Trump’s actions on January 6 should disqualify him from ever being President again,” he said.
An advisor to Trump told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity that the former president would decline the invitation to testify before the grand jury investigating the Capitol riots.
The former president is already facing criminal charges brought by for mishandling top secret government documents after leaving the White House. He is charged with 31 counts of "willful retention of national defense information," each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He also faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements and other offenses.
Trump, however, proclaimed his innocence, saying the “baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponized department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country.” He is the first former or current president to face criminal charges.
