Former US president Donald Trump has said he had received a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith stating that he was a target of a grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.
Mr Smith "sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social media site.
Mr Trump did not provide evidence to support the assertion. A spokesperson for Mr Smith's office declined to comment.
Later today, defence attorneys and federal prosecutors are due to make their first appearance in Florida before US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over charges that Mr Trump mishandled classified information and obstructed justice.
Mr Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, was charged last month with unlawfully retaining national defence documents after he left office in 2021 and conspiring to obstruct government efforts to retrieve them.
Mr Smith is also leading the prosecution in that case.
In his Truth Social post, Mr Trump argued that he has "the right to protest an Election that I am fully convinced was Rigged and Stolen" and said he was being targeted because of the upcoming election.
The Justice Department has "effectively issued a third indictment and Arrest of Joe Biden's NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT, who is largely dominating him in the race for the Presidency," Mr Trump said.
"Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, or even close," he said.
According to The Washington Post, a target letter does not necessarily mean charges will be brought against the recipient.
In his Truth Social post, Mr Trump did not specify what any potential charges against him might be.
On 6 January 2020, thousands of Trump supporters breached the Capitol building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Mr Trump lost to Mr Biden.
