Trump says he expects to be indicted in Capitol riot probe

Former US president Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected to be charged over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol -- an indictment that would ramp up his legal woes as he makes another White House run.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is already facing criminal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith for mishandling top secret government documents after leaving office.

Trump said he received a letter from Smith on Sunday stating that he's a target of the probe into January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed Congress in a bid to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

"Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden's DOJ, sent a letter... stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6 Grand Jury investigation," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The 77-year-old Trump said he was given four days to report to a grand jury, "which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment."

"This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement," he said. "It is a very sad and dark period for our Nation!"

Speaking on Fox News later Tuesday, Trump accused the Democratic party of using the Department of Justice to tank his political career.

"The DOJ has become a weapon for the Democrats, an absolute weapon," he said. "They want to try and demean, and diminish, and frighten people. 

It was not immediately clear what charges Trump may face, and a target letter does not always result in an indictment.

Before the Capitol attack, Trump delivered a fiery speech nearby urging the crowd to "fight like hell," and Smith has spent months looking into January 6 and Trump's...