Former United States President Donald Trump has been charged with criminal charges for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a 45-page indictment in Washington, DC on Tuesday, detailing four felony charges against Trump. These included conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and obstructing an official proceeding.
Trump has been accused of trying to obstruct “a bedrock function” of democracy in order to retain power. The charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into allegations that Trump sought to reverse his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Prosecutors alleged that Trump pushed fraud claims he knew to be untrue, pressured state and federal officials, and incited a violent assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to undermine the country’s democracy. In a brief statement to reporters, Smith placed the blame for the violence squarely on Trump’s shoulders. Smith said:
The attack on our nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. It was fuelled by lies – lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the US government.
The indictment offers a broader picture of attempts Trump allegedly made to subvert the election. The case has been assigned to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was appointed by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump was ordered to make an initial appearance in federal court in Washington, DC on Thursday.
Trump, the 45th President of the United States, last year announced his re-election campaign and candidacy for a non-consecutive second presidential term in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The Trump campaign called the charges “fake” and asked why it took two-and-a-half years to bring them. It added:
President Trump will not be deterred by disgraceful and unprecedented political targeting.
Donald Trump was the only individual charged in the indictment filed on Tuesday. However, prosecutors identified several co-conspirators, including lawyers from within and outside of government, who allegedly collaborated with Trump to overturn the election results. The indictment alleges that Trump and his accomplices orchestrated fake slates of electors in seven states, which he lost, with the intent of certifying them as authentic by Congress on January 6. The document also highlights multiple instances of Trump spreading false claims about the election and acknowledges that his top advisers, including senior intelligence officials, repeatedly informed him that the results were valid.