According to the law of the United States, a person receives a target letter when a U.S. attorney has "substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime".[1] The same legal technique may be used by county prosecutors in some jurisdictions.[2]

In 2005, the New York Times described target letters this way: "The U.S. attorney's manual bars prosecutors from taking witnesses before a grand jury if there is a possibility of future criminal charges unless the witnesses are notified in advance that their grand jury testimony can be used against them in a later indictment."[3] Law professor Randal Lee, a former judge and prosecutor, has said "A target letter is simply a courtesy letter given by the federal government informing you that you're a suspect in a criminal investigation."[4]

Former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Mitchell Epner has said that a target letter may be used by a prosecutor to induce a target of their investigation to flip, meaning to cooperate with the prosecution. Epner said, "Ordinarily, the reason that prosecutors send a target letter is to see if people want to come in to cooperate before they get charged."[2]

References

  1. ↑ Oberheiden, Nick (November 23, 2020). "I Received a Federal Target Letter, Now What?". National Law Review. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Klasfeld, Adam; Sarnoff, Marisa (July 15, 2022). "Fulton County DA Reportedly Sent 'Target' Letters to Prominent Georgia Republicans in Donald Trump Probe. Here's What That Means". Law and Crime. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Rove offers testimony on agent leak". New York Times. October 6, 2005. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  4. ↑ "What is a target letter? Criminal experts break down federal investigative procedure". KHON. Honolulu. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
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