NBC News is reporting that special counsel Jack Smith was the target of an attempted swatting at his Maryland home on Christmas Day.
NBC News reported:
According to two law enforcement sources, someone called 911 and said that Smith had shot his wife at the address where Smith lives.
Montgomery County Police dispatched units toward the home but were called off when the Deputy U.S. Marshals protecting Smith and his family told police that it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.
No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.
A spokesperson for the Special Counsel’s Office declined to comment. Police and the U.S. Marshals Service are not commenting either.
Smith is handling two federal criminal cases against Trump — he first is related to the former president’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election; the second relates to the alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home.
In November, at a federal appeals court hearing over a gag order barring Trump from disparaging witnesses and prosecutors in the election interference case, Smith’s lawyer Cecil VanDevender told the judges that the special counsel’s office has “been subject to multiple threats” and “intimidating communication” after Trump issued "inflammatory posts" about Smith.
Earlier Monday, NBC News reported that District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is handling Smith’s election interference case, was the victim of a swatting incident in which police and fire trucks showed up at her home on Sunday night.
NBC News wrote:
Police confirmed to NBC News that they responded to false reports of a shooting at a house that a witness identified as Chutkan's home. A law enforcement official also confirmed that it was Chutkan’s home and that she was home when police arrived at her residence.
A police report obtained by NBC News said that officers with the Metropolitan Police Department responded to a call just after 10 p.m. ET that referenced a shooting that occurred at the location. Once authorities arrived at the scene, an unnamed subject said she "was not injured and that there was no one in her home."
Police "determined no shooting took place," a police spokesperson told NBC News. It's unclear from where or from whom the call to emergency services originated.
“Swatting” is the term used to refer to when someone makes a false report of a crime taking place in order to draw police to a certain location.
Trump has said he plans to make an appearance at a courtroom in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday as a federal appeals court hears oral arguments on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution in the election interference case brought by Smith.
