Donald Trump tells AG Merrick Garland he wants to meet to discuss special counsel investigations

Former President Donald Trump has said he wants to meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland to discuss investigations by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Mr. Trump released a letter on Tuesday evening that his lawyers sent to Mr. Garland. The short letter says Mr. Trump is being treated unfairly compared to President Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who is under scrutiny for his foreign business ties.

“No President of the United States has ever, in the history of our country, been the subject of a baseless investigation in such an outrageous and unlawful manner. We request a meeting at the earliest opportunity to discuss the continuing injustice perpetrated by your special advocate and his prosecutors,” wrote attorneys John P. Rowley III and James M. Trusty.

Mr. Garland appointed Mr. Smith to investigate Mr. Trump’s actions after the 2020 election and the classified documents that were stored at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida – including whether anyone one hampered efforts to return the documents to the National Archives.

The special counsel has issued multiple subpoenas and taken records and testimony from key figures in Mr. Trump’s orbit.

Mr. Trump’s letter to Mr. Garland suggests that the probes are reaching a critical threshold.

Elsewhere, a New York civil court jury recently found Mr Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation of E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine writer, and the ex-president will stand trial next year for commercial fraud in Manhattan.

Mr Trump says the charges are a witch hunt designed to thwart his political ambitions. He leads the emerging Republican primary field in the 2024 presidential race.

Mr Trump fumed after New York State Judge Juan Merchan set a late March trial date for the Manhattan charges.

“They gave us a trial date of March 25, right in the middle of the primary season,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Very unfair, but that is exactly what the radical left Democrats wanted. This is called ELECTORAL INTERFERENCE, and nothing like this has ever happened in our country before!!!”