FILE – Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, at an office of the Department of Justice in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The federal special prosecutor behind two criminal cases against former President Donald Trump was reportedly targeted in a so-called “swatting” incident — the second such apparent victim in a matter of weeks.
Jack Smith, who has brought cases against Trump in Florida and Washington, D.C. — for illegal retention of documents and conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election, respectively — was home on Christmas Day when law enforcement was called to his home, NBC News reported.
Citing law enforcement sources, NBC reported that someone had called 911 and said that Smith shot his wife at the address where Smith lives. Montgomery County Police reportedly dispatched units to the home, but they were called off when the U.S. Marshals Service protecting Smith and his family told police it was a false alarm.
“Swatting” is a type of prank in which emergency responders receive false claims of violence or danger at a location, often resulting in police and other law enforcement descending on the location.
Everyone inside Smith’s home was safe at the time of the “swatting” call, and no arrests have been made, according to NBC.
The judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, has previously acknowledged that Trump’s social media posts criticizing Smith and the criminal charges generally have led to threats against witnesses.
Chutkan herself has reportedly also been the victim of a “swatting” setup.
FILE – This undated photo provided by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, shows U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts via AP, File)
On Sunday, police and emergency responders were sent to Chutkan’s home over a report that shooting had occurred, the New York Times reported.
Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department reportedly said that the judge “was not injured” and that no one was home at the time of the incident, which occurred at around 10 p.m., the New York Times said.
Chutkan had previously been targeted by an allegedly drunk Trump supporter who called the judge’s chambers and made racist threats.
Smith and Trump are set to face off Tuesday in the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia over Chutkan’s denial of Trump’s assertion that presidential immunity protects him from criminal charges that he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In addition to the Florida and Washington, D.C., cases, Trump is facing a massive civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, falsification of business records charges in Manhattan, and racketeering charges in Georgia.
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