Former US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he heard that special counsel Jack Smith will announce an indictment against him at 5pm ET (10pm Irish time), according to a post on the Truth Social app.
Mr Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, was informed earlier this month by Mr Smith’s office that he was a target of the Justice Department’s investigation, suggesting that an indictment could be soon.
The investigation has focused on the turbulent two-month period after the November 2020 election in which Mr Trump refused to accept his loss to Democrat Joe Biden and spread lies that victory was stolen from him.
The turmoil resulted in the January 6th riot at the US Capitol, when loyalists to Mr Trump violently broke into the building, attacked police officers and disrupted the congressional counting of electoral votes.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to that assault.
In between the election and the riot, Mr Trump urged local election officials to undo voting results in their states, pressured then vice president Mike Pence to halt the certification of electoral votes and falsely claimed that the election had been stolen — despite the fact that numerous federal and local officials, a long list of courts, top former campaign staffers and even his own attorney general have all said there is no evidence of the fraud he alleges.
