Trump is 'ultimate target' as Justice Department works way up 'criminal food chain' in January 6 probe, former federal prosecutor says

• Donald Trump is the "ultimate target" of the DOJ's investigation into January 6, a former federal prosecutor said.
• Investigators are working their way up the "criminal food chain," said Glenn Kirschner.

Former President Donald Trump is the "ultimate target" of the Justice Department's criminal investigation into the January 6 attack on the capital, according to former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner.

Investigators are working their way up the "criminal food chain" toward the former president, Kirschner told The Dean Obeidallah Show on Friday, per Newsweek.

"So clearly, I think Donald Trump is the ultimate target. And it seems to me that there are a couple of things going on. It seems to me that what DOJ is now doing is working its way up the criminal food chain," Kirschner said, who is an NBC News/MSNBC legal analyst.

"They continue to go after, prosecute, and convict Donald Trump's footsoldiers of the insurrection that he told to go attack the Capitol and stop the steal. And they obeyed those commands from their commander in chief," he told the SiriusXM radio's Progress channel.

At least 846 people have been arrested and charged with crimes since supporters of then-President Trump descended on the US Capitol on January 6.

Some of those charged had argued that they were incited by the then-president or were following Trump's orders when they participated in the Capitol riot.

The Justice Department's probe into the insurrection has centered chiefly on rioters and lower-level planners, Insider previously reported, but legal experts believe that the criminal inquiry could be homing in on Trump's inner circle.

According to The Guardian, the department has also issued subpoenas for information on several Trump lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman. Other top Trump allies who sought to overturn the 2020 election results might also be in prosecutors' sights, The Guardian reported.

Insider reported last month that the Justice Department had requested interview transcripts from the January 6 House investigation committee, which is running separately from the DOJ probe. There are more than 1,000 transcripts, including those of high-ranking Trump associates and Trump family members.

These interviews may be used to put forward criminal charges or used as evidence for other cases, The New York Times reported.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, former Trump advisor Peter Navarro said he was put in handcuffs and "leg irons" while being arrested after trying to board a flight at the airport in Nashville on Friday.

Navarro, 72, was indicted on charges of contempt of Congress on Friday after repeatedly defying the orders of the House Committee investigating the January 6 riot, per unsealed court documents.