Donald Trump Is Running Out of Time

Following months of evidence gathering, there are rising suggestions that Donald Trump will soon be indicted as part of the classified documents investigation into him.

Trump has already pleaded not guilty to 34 felony offenses after being charged under New York state law over falsifying business records allegations. He could also become the first U.S. president to be charged with a federal crime. There are accusations Trump mishandled top-secret materials the FBI seized at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in August 2022 and also obstructed the federal attempt to retrieve them. The former president has denied this.

Speculation that Special Counsel Jack Smith's office is preparing to indict Trump has risen in recent days after a number of potentially highly significant developments. Three of Trump's lawyers—James Trusty, John Rowley and Lindsey Halligan—met with Justice Department officials, including Smith, on Monday to argue that Trump should not be charged as part of the classified documents case.

Trump has also reportedly received a letter from the Justice Department. It told him that he is under federal investigation, another key sign that an indictment could be forthcoming. The purpose of such letters is to give the recipient the opportunity to provide evidence or testify to a grand jury in their defense after the prosecution has questioned other key witnesses and figures connected to the investigation.

Trump has long denied any wrongdoing in connection to the classified materials case. He has frequently pushed the disputed claim that all the top-secret materials recovered from Mar-a-Lago were declassified before he left office. Trump has also denied he has been informed that he could soon be charged in connection to the case.

"No one has told me I'm being indicted, and I shouldn't be because I've done NOTHING wrong, but I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI, starting with the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX, the "No Collusion" Mueller Report, Impeachment HOAX #1, Impeachment HOAX #2, the PERFECT Ukraine phone call, and various other SCAMS & WITCH HUNTS," Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday.

Criminal defense attorney Joshua Ritter is a partner with El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers and a former Los Angeles County prosecutor. He told Newsweek that not only will the federal charging of a former U.S. president be "monumental," but could also have major implications in the 2024 election, where Trump is the favorite to clinch the GOP presidential nomination.

"The ramifications this could have on the coming election are so vast, it's almost impossible to tell," Ritter said.

"Prosecutors do their best to only consider whether a crime was committed and whether they can prove a crime was committed," he added.

"But, in a case like this, it is so historic and unprecedented to be making this type of decision, that I imagine all sorts of conversations are being had about the collateral consequences and ramifications that could come out of this that have nothing to do with whether or not they can prove the criminal charges themselves."

Attorney Jamie White also said prosecutors must consider the wider issues when deciding whether to file federal charges against a former president.

"In Manhattan, they had to close down the whole city when Trump was indicted. So, all of this has to be looked at carefully," White told Newsweek. "For example, where are they going to put him if he were to be jailed? There are many very real practical considerations to untangle."

A spate of people connected to the former president have appeared in front of a grand jury as part of the classified documents case in recent days, which also indicates that the investigation may be drawing to a close.

On Wednesday former Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich confirmed in a tweet that he had testified to the grand jury. He also dismissed the "bogus" case against the former president.

There have been reports that Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows has answered questions under oath connected to the classified documents case. Meadows was also quizzed in Smith's probe into Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the events around the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Meadows has become a significant figure in Smith's classified documents investigation. This follows reports Smith's office has obtained an audio recording of Trump admitting in July 2021 that he had retained a secret Pentagon paper regarding a potential attack on Iran. The former president added that he no longer had the power to declassify the document.

The alleged audio casts doubt on Trump's defense that he had declassified all the materials he was still in possession of before he left the White House in January 2021. The remarks from Trump were made during a meeting at his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, with two people who were helping to write Meadows' biography.

The former chief of staff was not present during the Bedminster meeting. However, Meadows was one of Trump's representatives to the National Archives and may have been involved in communications about the agency's attempts to retrieve the documents from the former president.

White said, contrary to the "witch hunt" claims from Trump, it appears that prosecutors have been carefully building the classified documents case against the former president. White added that it is "likely he would already have been indicted if he wasn't Donald Trump."

"But if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck, and he has clearly broken the law. It's not the first time he's done so, and he has even admitted to doing so," White said.

"If there's no level of accountability for taking classified information that includes very sensitive matters like Iran, what do we hold people accountable for?"

Newsweek has contacted Trump's legal team for comment via email.

Correction 06/08/23, 12:05 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to correct a misspelling of Jamie White's name.