Trump target letter opens door to charging a 'full range of one or more conspiracies': legal expert

According to former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, the target letter Donald Trump received last week from the Department of Justice was specific enough to show the direction of the investigation into 2020 presidential election tampering while at the same time vague enough to leave open the door to charges that could be far-ranging.

As ABC reported last week, "The three statutes include conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States; a civil rights conspiracy charge; and tampering with a witness, victim or informant, according to sources. It's not clear whether Smith will seek an indictment based on any of the statutes sources say are referenced in the target letter, or what range of charges Trump could ultimately face. The former president has denied all wrongdoing and dismissed Smith's probe as a political witch hunt."

As Vance noted on her Substack platform, the key allegations in the letter that are likely to lead to yet another federal indictment lead her to believe that everything is on the table and prosecutors could file a dizzying number of charges against the former president.

As she explained, "These statutes would give prosecutors the latitude to charge the full range of one or more conspiracies to interfere with the certification of the electoral college vote, to use fake slates of electors and pressure campaigns on state (Georgia!) and federal officials (think Mike Pence) to alter the outcome of the election, and to interfere with citizens’ rights to vote and have their votes counted."

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She also added that, as Trump goes to trial, pressure will be placed on the court to appear above politics.

"The question hanging over Trump’s criminal proceedings is whether the courts will be able to handle the challenges implicit in trying a former president. Can they conduct court proceedings and trials so Trump can be treated, at least as much as possible for a defendant who comes with his own Secret Service detail, like anyone else indicted on criminal charges?" she wrote before adding, "The courts know they face this challenge and like any other institution, their job is to rise to it, in a time when some institutions have fallen short and seem to have succumbed to Trump’s devices and to prioritizing some people’s rights at the expense of others."

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