Former U.S. President Donald Trump was indicted Tuesday on four counts in connection with his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that led to the 2021 attack on the Capitol.
This is Trump's third criminal indictment since leaving office in January 2021. Despite this, he remains the clear front-runner in the early race for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury, said the four counts are 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.
The 45-page document began with an unequivocal assessment of Trump's behavior following the election, saying, "Despite having lost, the defendant was determined to remain in power" and detailed multiple attempts he and his associates made to subvert legitimate election results in key battleground states.
It accused him of a more than two-month campaign after the election in which he spread lies that there had been "outcome-determinative fraud" and that he had actually won even though he "knew that they were false."
"The attack on our nation's Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy," special counsel Jack Smith told the press. "It was fueled by lies -- lies by the defendant -- targeted and obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government."
The indictment said there were six co-conspirators, mainly attorneys, whose names were not disclosed. Among other points, it said they sought to enlist then-Vice President Mike Pence to fraudulently alter the election results.
But Pence, who is also running in the Republican nomination race, refused, with the indictment quoting Trump as telling him, "You're too honest."
Smith said the Department of Justice will seek a speedy trial.
The Trump campaign said in a statement that the indictment is a "continued pathetic attempt" by President Joe Biden and the department to "interfere" with the upcoming presidential election.
It claimed that the former president has "always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys."
Trump was summoned to appear before a federal magistrate judge Thursday in Washington.
Two weeks ago, the 77-year-old disclosed in a social media post that he had received a letter from Smith saying he was a "target" in the department's probe in connection with the previous presidential election.
Trump and his supporters have accused Biden of trying to obstruct the former president's campaign to return to the White House.
Trump, the first former U.S. president ever to face criminal prosecution, has already been indicted on both state and federal charges.
His other pending trials are for a New York case stemming from a hush money payment to a porn star and for a federal case over his retention of classified national security documents at his resort in Florida.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases. He is due to go to trial on March 25 next year in the hush money case and on May 20 over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
The cases have complicated the presidential race, but under the U.S. Constitution, an indictment or a potential conviction would not bar Trump from running for the White House in 2024 or serving in office if elected.
