Donald Trump’s legal team meets with special counsel Jack Smith as more federal indictments loom

By Evan Perez, Jamie Gangel, Kaitlan Collins, Katelyn Polantz, Tierney Sneed, Sara Murray, Alayna Treene and Kristen Holmes | CNN

A meeting between Donald Trump’s defense lawyers and special counsel Jack Smith has concluded without the former president’s team getting any guidance about timing of a possible indictment, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Since receiving a letter from Smith indicating he’s a target of the investigation earlier this month, Trump had argued against a meeting between his attorneys and Smith’s team because the former president believed the indictment was already a done deal, two sources familiar with his thinking said.

The grand jury hearing evidence from the special counsel’s probe into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election is sitting Thursday at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC.

CNN spotted jurors and a prosecutor working for Smith entering the courthouse this morning. After breaking for an early lunch, the grand jury has reconvened. The grand jury, which normally meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, had not been seen inside the federal courthouse since last week.

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

In seeking a meeting with Smith’s team, Trump’s lawyers hoped to at least delay any potential plans for the grand jury to hand up an indictment Thursday, people briefed on the plans said.

Another source familiar with the legal team’s thinking tells CNN they also expected to discuss the logistics of how a potential indictment and arraignment of the former president would work.

Trump’s political and legal strategy has been to delay any possible trials – including until potentially after the 2024 election – and to put the Justice Department in an uncomfortable position where they are pursuing a prosecution of President Joe Biden’s chief 2024 rival even as primary voters are beginning to have their say.