Mary McCord, a former Justice Department official, has suggested that a grand jury might have already issued an indictment against former President Donald Trump in connection with Jack Smith’s investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which occurred following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.
McCord suggested during a segment on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” that although the indictment hasn’t been publicly announced yet, it might have already been returned.
Guest host Jen Psaki mentioned that the grand jury didn’t convene on Tuesday as scheduled, prompting her to inquire about the implications of this. McCord explained that the day the grand jury returns an indictment may not necessarily be the day it becomes public. She pointed to previous cases like Mar-a-Lago, where the indictment was returned, but it remained under seal until security arrangements were made before the public announcement.
“The day the grand jury returns an indictment would not necessarily be the day that it becomes public, right?” McCord said.
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“In cases like Mar-a-Lago, we know they returned the indictment, Mr. Trump was informed about this, he’s the one who then told the public about it, and then things, you know, were made public before the first court appearance. So, you know, it’s possible that there’s already been an indictment returned and it’s just being held right now under seal until the courthouse can make arrangements for security, et cetera, right, because that will be very important before this becomes publicly announced.”
McCord believes that regardless of whether the grand jury has reached a decision on indicting Trump, an indictment seems “imminent.” She noted that Trump received a target letter, giving him four days to appear before the grand jury, and that deadline recently expired, indicating that action may have already been taken. However, she couldn’t pinpoint the exact date of any potential public announcement.
“I do think the fact that Mr. Trump got a target letter which gave him, remember, four days to come into the grand jury if you wish to do so, those four days expired last Thursday. I think that that’s, you know, that would not have happened just sort of in the middle of the investigation if Jack Smith was planning to wait three, four or five more weeks before doing something so I do think it’s imminent, but I can’t tell you what day.”
Watch the video below from MSNBC.
