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Jack Smith meeting with Trump team suggests charges coming in classified docs probe

While mysteries abound in the special counsel investigation, we have evidence of a common pre-charge maneuver.

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There’s plenty we don’t know about Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into Donald Trump's handling of classified documents: Which specific charges, if any, might he bring? What’s happening in Florida with the grand jury this week? Would only Trump be charged or others, too?

But Monday’s meeting between DOJ lawyers, including Smith, and the former president’s legal team is a sign that, whatever the particulars of any charges in the documents probe, such charges are likely to come — and soon.

Indeed, MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann said he thinks Trump will be charged this week.

Weissmann explained on "Deadline: White House" on Monday that defense counsel in these sorts of cases have an opportunity to be heard before prosecutors bring charges when there aren't concerns about the defendant, say, fleeing or committing a violent crime.

Likewise, MSNBC legal analyst Neal Katyal called the meeting the kind of thing defense attorneys will do as a last-ditch effort before charges are brought.

So, assuming that Trump's team can't dissuade Smith from bringing charges in what would be a historic case, be prepared for charges to drop any day now. And, as I wrote earlier on Tuesday, be prepared for Trump to continue drawing false equivalencies between his case and less serious ones that didn't warrant charges.

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