Former US President Donald Trump was indicted on Tuesday for his wide-ranging efforts to reverse the 2020 election, the third time in four months that he has been charged with criminal charges while campaigning for re-election in 2024.
The 45-page indictment accuses Republican Trump of attempting to defraud the US by prohibiting Congress from certifying Democrat and current US President Joe Biden’s win and depriving voters of their right to a fair election.
Attempts to Reverse the 2020 Election
The indictment, released by Special Counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday, contained four felony allegations against Trump, some carrying prison terms of up to 20 years.
Prosecutors claimed in the indictment that Trump conspired with six other unnamed individuals to reverse the results. Trump pushed fraud claims he knew were false, pressured state and federal officials, and eventually incited a violent attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 to “create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger and erode public faith in the administration of the election.”
For months, prosecutors have been looking into attempts made by Trump, such as assembling false slates of electors to send to Congress, pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to impede congressional certification of Biden’s victory, pressuring state officials to reverse their results, fundraising with false accusations of election fraud, and mobilising supporters to march to the Capitol.
According to the indictment, Trump and his associates created fake slates of electors in seven states, all of which he lost, and had them confirmed as official by Congress on 6 January. It includes multiple examples of Trump’s electoral deceptions and adds that close aides, including top intelligence officials, constantly assured him that the results were legitimate.
The third indictment of Donald Trump illustrates in shocking detail that the violence of January 6th was the culmination of a months-long criminal plot led by the former president to defy democracy and overturn the will of the American people.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 1, 2023
My statement with @RepJeffries: pic.twitter.com/Gton23KGPx
In the indictment, Trump’s co-conspirators were not named, but based on the descriptions, they appear to include Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who contacted state legislators in the weeks following the 2020 election to push them not to accept the state results.
Other alleged co-conspirators include former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who attempted to install himself as attorney general to initiate voter fraud investigations in Georgia and other states, and attorney John Eastman, who progressed the incorrect legal theory that Pence could block electoral certification.
In a brief statement to reporters, Smith blamed Trump for the violence. “The attack on our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fuelled by lies — lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the US government,” he remarked.
Indictment Reveals Additional Details
The indictment states, “The Defendant [Trump] attempted to use a crowd of supporters that he had gathered in Washington, DC to pressure the Vice President to fraudulently alter the election results.”
In another instance, prosecutors claimed that “the Defendant publicly maligned a Philadelphia City Commissioner for stating on the news that there was no evidence of widespread fraud.” Consequently, the indictment pointed out, “the Philadelphia City Commissioner and his family received death threats.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith said former president Donald Trump tried to obstruct “a bedrock function of the U.S. government” — the certification of the presidential election results.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 1, 2023
Smith said the Department of Justice is committed to a speedy trial, and that the investigation… pic.twitter.com/sY9i9nnUF0
The indictment also mentions cases in which Trump accused 30,000 non-citizens of voting in Arizona and over 10,000 dead voters of voting in Georgia, despite being told precisely that these charges were false.
Additionally, there is mention of an unnamed “political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”
Federal investigators have subpoenaed the false electors around the country, assigned FBI agents to question witnesses about their actions, and recently granted immunity to two Nevada fake electors in exchange for grand jury testimony.
CHARGES AGAINST DONALD TRUMP
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) August 1, 2023
1. Conspiracy to Defraud the United States
2. Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding
3. Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct and Official Proceeding
4. Conspiracy Against Rights pic.twitter.com/7OsZHmxG0c
Previous Criminal Charges on Trump
The former president faced federal charges for the second time by Smith on Tuesday.
Trump pleaded not guilty in June after a federal grand jury in Miami appointed by the special counsel accused him of unauthorised retention of confidential government documents after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing justice. Prosecutors accused him of compromising some of the most sensitive US national security secrets.
In March, a grand jury convened by Manhattan’s district attorney accused Trump of fabricating business records to conceal hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels about an affair she said she had with him before the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and has denied having had an affair.
According to the reports, polls continually show Trump topping the crowded field for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, with a New York Times/Siena College poll showing him 37 points ahead of Ron DeSantis.