Former President Donald Trump was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury that was called by the Justice Department to focus on Trump’s efforts to fight back against the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The office of special prosecutor Jack Smith confirmed that Trump was indicted, according to NBC.
Trump faces four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Trump created “widespread mistrust” in his attempt to “overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election,” the indictment said.
Reuters: TRUMP SUMMONED TO APPEAR IN FEDERAL COURT IN D.C. ON AUG. 3 AT 4 PM ET -JUSTICE DEPT
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The indictment said Trump knew that his allegations of fraud were wrong when he made them.
The indictment said that Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials told Trump that his claims of fraud were not valid, but that Trump pursued his efforts in spite of those comments.
The Trump indictment lists six co-conspirators but does not name them: four attorneys, a Justice Department official and a political consultant.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 1, 2023
“Each of these conspiracies — which built on the widespread mistrust the defendant was creating through pervasive and destabilizing lies about election fraud — targeted a bedrock function of the United States federal government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election,” the indictment said.
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Six unnamed co-conspirators will also face charges, including multiple attorneys and a Justice Department official, the indictment said.
After the election, Trump said widespread fraud was responsible for his losses in multiple swing states. Although the Trump campaign filed multiple lawsuits, none were successful in proving Trump’s case.
On Jan. 6, 2021, as protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., Trump urged Congress to set aside the sets of electors from states where he said fraud took place, insisting Congress had the power to do so. Although some lawmakers protested against those electors, the results of the election were certified that day after protesters breached the Capitol.
According to NBC, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan will hear Trump’s case. NBC noted that Chutkan is unique among federal judges in handing out harsher sentences of Jan. 6 defendants than those requested by the government.
Even before the indictment was revealed, Trump was fighting back against it.
“I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M. Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
“Also, why are they putting out another Fake Indictment the day after the Crooked Joe Biden SCANDAL, one of the biggest in American history, broke out in the Halls of Congress??? A Nation In Decline!” Trump posted.
A statement from Trump’s campaign posted on Truth Social noted that the indictment came “right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024.”
The statement called the indictments “election interference.”
“The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes. President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys,” it said.
Trump was indicted earlier this year in New York City on allegations of falsifying business records in 2016. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida on charges of mishandling classified documents. Trump has denied the charges in both cases.
