New York and Washington, August 2. Donald Trump was formally charged yesterday with four federal criminal offenses for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election by violating voting rights. This is the third indictment announced in the past five months; before March, no former US president had been formally charged with crimes.
The indictment filed yesterday in federal court in Washington by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith of the Department of Justice begins with a blunt summary: “Despite losing, the defendant was determined to remain in power.” It alleges that for more than two months after the 2020 election, the defendant spread “lies” about election fraud, which “the defendant knew to be false.”
The four counts are conspiracy to violate civil rights protected by law, conspiracy to defraud the government, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The first two counts carry sentences of up to five years in prison, the other two, up to 20 years if convicted at trial.
“Each of these conspiracies—which were built on the widespread distrust the defendant was creating through widespread and destabilizing lies about election fraud—attacked a core function of the United States federal government: the nation's process of capturing, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election,” the indictment states.
