A sweeping federal indictment alleges that former President Donald Trump, intent on remaining in office, engaged in a vast "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including repeatedly pushing lies about the results despite knowing they were false and doubling down on these falsehoods as the January 6 riot raged.
This is the third indictment facing the former president, who, as the leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, continues to assert that the vote was manipulated.
Trump Indicted For 3rd Time
Prosecutors say the alleged scheme, which they say involved six unnamed co-conspirators, involved enlisting a slate of so-called "fake electors" to target several states, using the Justice Department to conduct "sham election crime investigations"; enlisting the vice president to "alter the election results"; and doubling down on false claims as the Jan. 6 riot ensued - all in an effort to subvert democracy and maintain power.
Among the six alleged conspirators are a number of attorneys and a Justice Department employee.
Based on the investigation of special counsel Jack Smith, the comprehensive indictment charges Trump with four felonies: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
Officials have testified that Trump exerted pressure on them based on unfounded allegations of pervasive electoral fraud, as per ABC News. On January 6, 2021, his supporters assaulted the US Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's victory.
Trump stated on July 18, that he had received a letter from Smith informing him that he was under investigation by a grand jury in Washington.
According to AOL, he has described the investigation, along with the other cases against him, as a politically motivated witch chase.
Smith, who was appointed special counsel by US Attorney Merrick Garland in November, had previously charged Trump with illegally retaining classified government documents after leaving office in January 2021 and obstructing justice.
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Pence Notes Served as Evidence to Trump's Indictment
Moreover, the newly-revealed evidence in the 45-page indictment appears to originate directly from Mike Pence, Trump's vice president and rival in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
According to the indictment, Pence took "contemporaneous notes" of multiple conversations he had with Trump and his advisers in the days leading up to January 6, 2021, including a meeting in which Trump asked Pence to deny Joe Biden's legitimate electors.
Per Yahoo, Pence said that Trump falsely claimed at the time that he had won every state by a margin of at least 100,000 ballots. As part of his pressure campaign, Trump fraudulently informed Vice President Pence that the Department of Justice was "finding significant infractions" with the 2020 election, according to the indictment.
Trump's efforts to exert public pressure on Pence to overturn the 2020 presidential election are well-known. But according to the indictment, on January 1, 2021, Trump also called Pence and told him he was "too honest" for refusing to participate in the conspiracy to deny Biden the presidency.
Pence has criticized Trump over the riot on January 6, stating that his former employer acted irresponsibly by placing his and his family's lives in danger. However, the former vice president has stated that he does not believe Trump's actions were criminal.
In a statement released by his campaign on Tuesday, Pence referred to the indictment as "an essential reminder" that "no one should ever be President of the United States who places himself above the Constitution."
In addition, he characterized it as a reason for Republican voters to choose someone else to challenge Biden in 2024. According to the document, Trump is charged with 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.
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