WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump was indicted on Tuesday on four federal charges for his alleged role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
According to the indictment, Trump was determined to stay in power and was the head of a sweeping “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which included repeatedly pushing baseless claims of voter fraud despite knowing that he lost.
The indictment names four federal charges for the former president: 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.
“The attack on our nation’s capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” special counsel Jack Smith said in brief remarks. “It was fueled by lies.”
The indictment is the third for Trump, who is the current Republican frontrunner in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination.
According to the indictment, the scheme involved six unnamed co-conspirators, which include attorneys and a Justice Department official.
“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power,” the indictment reads. “So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won.”
The indictment alleges Trump used “dishonesty, fraud, and deceit” to overturn the results of the 2020 election with “pervasive and destabilizing lies about election fraud”.
Trump is set to be arraigned on the charges on Thursday.
“My office will seek a speedy trial so that our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens,” Smith said.
Trump called the indictment “fake” in a post to Truth Social just 15 minutes before the indictment was unsealed.
“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!”, he wrote.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, slamming Smith as “corrupt” and “deranged” while calling the investigation “election interference.”
The White House declined a request to comment on the matter when asked by Fwrd Axis News.
“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,” the Trump campaign said in a statement after the indictment was unsealed.
