Trump lawyers meet with special counsel as grand jury convenes

Court official says no grand jury decisions today

A court official told reporters waiting at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. on Thursday afternoon that there haven’t been any indictments returned today and none are expected.

The grand jury investigating Trump and the 2020 election has been meeting in that courthouse today.

Congress is leaving town ahead of another possible Trump indictment

Congress is leaving Washington for a six-week recess today, giving Republicans a convenient reprieve from throngs of reporters in the halls of the Capitol ahead of another possible Trump indictment. (Though there’s no official indication that the two issues are tied together).

The House was originally scheduled to be in tomorrow, but has decided to leave one day early and will close up for the August recess in the next few hours, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., announced. They were supposed to vote on another government funding bill Friday, but have decided to punt that to September.

Jan. 6 defendant who wanted to ‘grab Nancy Pelosi by the hair’ arrested

As we await news on a potential Trump indictment, cases against Jan. 6 defendants continue to be unsealed.

The latest case is that of Michael St. Pierre, who the FBI said posted a video saying he wanted to “rush the Capitol, to grab Nancy Pelosi by the hair and f—ing twirl her around.”

Trump invokes ‘many lawyers’ in defense in investigation

The former president’s vague reference on Truth Social to being “advised by many lawyers” is notable.

In this case, he may try to argue that he was told by attorneys — such as Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Kenneth Cheseboro, among others — that he could try to undo the election results by having state legislatures put forth “alternative” slates of electors after the 2020 presidential election.

He could claim that he was merely relying on their advice that the conduct was legal, and so he can’t be prosecuted if their advice turned out to be unlawful.

The problem for him is that the Jan. 6 congressional investigation shows many of these lawyers were told what they were doing had no legal merit — and so was Trump, including by aides like Attorney General Bill Barr.

The other snag is that if an advice-of-counsel defense is raised, then the prosecutors could be able to pierce the privilege between Trump and his lawyers, to discover precisely what he was advised and when.

Trump says on Truth Social that his lawyers had a ‘productive meeting’ with the DOJ

Trump said in a post on Truth Social just after 1 p.m. ET that his attorneys had a “productive meeting” with Justice Department prosecutors Thursday morning.

He said his lawyers spent the meeting “explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country.”

“No indication of notice was given during the meeting — Do not trust the Fake News on anything!” he wrote.  

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that the report by NBC News that the former president’s lawyers were told to expect an indictment was “incorrect.”

U.S. Marshals meet with law enforcement partners outside courthouse

Members of the U.S. Marshals are meeting with other members of law enforcement at the Prettyman Federal Courthouse ahead of a possible indictment against Trump.

Officials from the U.S. Park Police and the Metropolitan Police Department were present.

Trump lawyers meet with prosecutors in Smith’s office

Trump’s attorneys Todd Blanche and John Lauro have met with prosecutors in Smith’s office, according to three sources.

The lawyers were told to expect an indictment, two sources said.

Rudy Giuliani concedes he made ‘false’ statements about Georgia election workers

Rudy Giuliani conceded in a court filing Tuesday that he made “false” statements about two Georgia 2020 election workers who are suing him over baseless claims of fraud he made against them.

“Defendant Giuliani, for the purposes of litigation only, does not contest that, to the extent the statements were statements of fact and other wise actionable, such actionable factual statements were false,” Giuliani wrote in a signed stipulation that he said was intended to “avoid unnecessary expenses in litigating what he believes to be unnecessary disputes.”

Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, have said their lives were turned upside down when conspiracy theorists, as well as then-President Donald Trump and his ally Giuliani, claimed they had committed election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. A brief, heavily edited clip of security video was widely circulated online and by Trump allies as supposed proof.

Read the full story here.

Former lawmaker says Trump asked him to overturn the 2020 election but so far special counsel hasn’t contacted him

Former Rep. Mo Brooks is “mildly surprised” Smith’s office has not sought a meeting with him to discuss his accusations that Trump urged him to help “rescind” the 2020 election and “violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law.” 

Brooks, a Republican who represented an Alabama district in Congress, said in an interview that he would meet with prosecutors if they ask.

“Yeah, if they asked me to, I’d explain what I know about it. Whether it’s relevant or material, I’m not sure,” he said, continuing: “I was shocked [Trump] was so blatant about it — illegal conduct.”

Read the full story here.

Former Trump DOJ official Richard Donoghue has met with the special counsel’s office

Former senior Justice Department official Richard Donoghue says he has been interviewed by special counsel Jack Smith’s office but has not been called to testify before the federal grand jury investigating Jan. 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Donoghue, who confirmed the meeting with Smith’s office Monday, was acting deputy attorney general near the end of the Trump administration. He testified before the House Jan. 6 committee that investigated the Capitol riot.

The special counsel’s office declined to comment to NBC News.

Read the full story here.

Grand jury members are arriving at the courthouse

Members of the federal grand jury hearing evidence and testimony in Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power have started to arrive at the courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Multiple members have been seen in the courthouse cafeteria and heading up to the grand jury area on the third floor. 

Special counsel examines 2020 meeting during which Trump was briefed on U.S. election system’s integrity

The special counsel’s office has inquired about a White House briefing Feb. 14, 2020, at which federal officials assured Trump of the security and integrity of the U.S. election system, people familiar with the matter said.

Three sources said the special counsel’s office interviewed them about the White House meeting with Trump. Two of the sources were at the meeting.

In the briefing, officials from multiple agencies — including the FBI, the national intelligence director’s office and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — laid out why it’s extraordinarily difficult for hacking or fraud to change the results of a U.S. election.

Read the full story here.

Trump teams prepare for possible Thursday grand jury vote

Trump’s legal and political teams are preparing for the possibility that the federal grand jury will vote on charges against the former president as early as Thursday, according to three sources familiar with the thinking of his inner circle.

Trump said July 18 on his social media platform that he was notified that he is a target in an investigation into the Jan. 6 riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The target letter mentioned three federal statutes related to the deprivation of rights, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and tampering with a witness, two attorneys with direct knowledge of the document have said.

Read the full story here.