It’s not quite a Trump-style media circus yet in Miami, but it will be soon.
Dozens of out-of-town reporters, photographers and TV camera crews gathered Thursday in front of the downtown federal courthouse — killing time under white tents with snacks, water and books — in hopes of getting a morsel of news from a secret grand jury which has been reviewing evidence in the Justice Department’s probe into Trump’s handling of classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
… Trump…must make his first appearance in Miami federal court on Tuesday.
The convening of the grand jury in Miami came as a surprise to many because for months special counsel Jack Smith has been presenting evidence to grand jurors in Washington, DC.
Given the secrecy, rumors and uncertainty abounded.
Would the Miami jurors indict Trump on charges of illegally storing hundreds of classified documents at his private residence and club, Mar-a-Lago, while obstructing efforts by the FBI to retrieve them? Would the Washington DC jurors separately indict Trump on charges related to inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Capitol Hill to stop Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote before transferring power to Joe Biden?
No one seemed to know on Thursday, despite 24/7 coverage by the New York Times, AP and other major news organizations in recent days. Many outlets had reporters stationed in Miami.
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…it’s unclear why twin grand juries might be employed in the investigation. …
But legal experts told the numerous media outlets, including the Miami Herald, that it suggested the potential for at least part of any case to be filed and prosecuted in South Florida.
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Trump recently called into the Todd Starnes radio show, where he confirmed the Justice Department meeting with his lawyers: “Well, I can just say this: They did go in and they saw ’em and they said very unfair. No other president has ever been charged with anything like his.’”
