Special Counsel Wrapping Up Trump Mar-a-Lago Probe: Report

Special Counsel Jack Smith is wrapping up his probe into former President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents found at his residence in Florida, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The newspaper cited people familiar with the matter in reporting Tuesday that Smith had "all but finished" collecting evidence and gathering testimony in the case. 

Allies of the former president told the outlet they are bracing for Trump to be indicted and that they expect to fundraise off the charges.

The Messenger reported last week that Trump's allies were prepping for criminal charges against the former president and anticipated him mounting a defense strategy designed to consolidate support around his 2024 bid for the White House by undermining public opinion about the entire judicial system.

Following the FBI's execution of a search warrant at Trump's Florida resort in August 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November and charged him with examining Trump's handling of confidential presidential files that were found at his private Mar-a-Lago resort, as well as the former president's role in the events surrounding the transition in power to the Biden administration.

Smith is also looking into whether Trump and aides knowingly raised money off false claims they were still fighting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. 

Garland in January appointed Special Counsel Robert Hur to lead a separate investigation into the handling of classified documents by President Joseph Biden after classified records were discovered at his Delaware residence and a Washington, D.C. think tank.

Recent weeks have been marked by internal strife within Trump's legal team. Tim Parlatore, one of the former president's attorneys on the investigation, said last week that he had left the legal team amid infighting among Trump attorneys.

Parlatore indicated the Special Counsel's probe was nearing a conclusion in an interview with CNN on Sunday, noting that "we're coming down to the end of this investigation where Jack Smith and ultimately Merrick Garland is going to make a decision as to what to do."

Ty Cobb, a former Trump White House attorney, said in an interview with The Messenger earlier this month that he expects Smith’s team between the end of May and September to bring federal criminal charges against the former president on both January 6-related matters and the Mar-a-Lago documents obstruction case

Trump attorneys James Trusty and John Rowley, who are representing the former president in the documents probe, could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesperson for Smith declined comment.