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Washington
CNN
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The grand jury that returned the indictment against former President Donald Trump over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election is meeting at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC, Thursday after a hiatus of more than four weeks.
CNN saw the jurors working for Special Counsel Jack Smith at the courthouse Thursday morning. The grand jury last met at the courthouse on August 8, a week after the indictment was filed against Trump. Smith said after the charges were announced that the investigation would continue, and the latest grand jury meeting is an indication that it is continuing.
The grand jury has been hearing evidence from Smith’s investigation into interference in the 2020 election for nearly a year. The indictment includes six unnamed co-conspirators who could still face charges.
In a hearing last week, Washington District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the two starkly different trial dates offered by prosecutors and the defense. She set the date for Trump’s election subversion case as March 4, 2024, a day before Super Tuesday.
CNN reported earlier this week that Smith’s investigation recently focused on how money raised from baseless allegations of voter fraud was used to fund attempted tampering with voting materials in several States won by Joe Biden, as well as the role of former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.
Powell’s nonprofit, Defending the Republic, hired forensic firms that eventually gained access to voting materials in four swing states Biden won: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona, according to several sources familiar with the ongoing investigation. Powell faces criminal charges in Georgia after being indicted last month by Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis.
The new details of the investigation indicate that federal prosecutors are looking into a series of election violations after the 2020 election that state investigators have been investigating for more than a year. Smith’s grand jury in Washington, DC, is due to expire on September 15, but it can be extended.
Meanwhile, Smith said in a court filing on Tuesday that Trump made “daily out-of-court statements that threaten to prejudice the jury” in the 2020 election subversion case.
The allegation arose out of a court battle that remains largely secret. Smith’s office argued with Trump’s team over what part of the underlying dispute should be made public.
This story has been updated with additional background information.
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