Donald Trump has said he has received a letter notifying him he is a target in a US Justice Department investigation into attempts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Mr Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he received the letter informing him on Sunday night.

Such a letter often precedes an indictment and is used to advise individuals that prosecutors have gathered evidence linking them to a crime.

The former president received one ahead of being charged last month in a separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.

A spokesperson for special counsel Jack Smith, whose office is leading the investigation, declined to comment.

In the post, Mr Trump wrote that “they have now effectively indicted me three times… with a probably fourth coming from Atlanta”, and added in capital letters: “This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total (political) weaponisation of law enforcement!”

He also said he had been given “a very short four days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an arrest and indictment”.

More on Donald Trump

Mr Trump’s mention of Atlanta appears to refer to prosecutors in Georgia who are conducting a separate investigation into alleged attempts by the former president to reverse his election loss in that state.

The top prosecutor in Fulton County signalled she expects to announce charging decisions in the coming weeks.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player


3:42

Explained: Donald Trump’s indictment

Mr Smith has been tasked by the US Attorney General Merrick Garland to examine Mr Trump’s role in the 6 January attack on the Capitol and his alleged mishandling of government records.

More than 1,000 people accused of participating in the attack have been charged.

Read more: What investigations is Donald Trump facing?

Mr Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, was indicted last month on 37 felony counts accusing him of illegally keeping hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

He pleaded not guilty.

Mr Trump was also indicted in March by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to hush-money payments to a former adult film star in 2016.