Donald Trump was criminally indicted again on Tuesday. However, the former president is being prosecuted this time for his repeated attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election.
This is the third time since March of this year that criminal charges have been filed against Trump.
On Tuesday, special investigator Jack Smith brought four new charges against Trump, two of which carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison if the former president is found guilty.
The Republican is charged in the latest case against him with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings, referring to the joint session of Congress in January 2021 during which Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 election. was declared.
The 45-page indictment also accuses Trump of attempting to deprive American voters of a fair election at the time with his false claims that he had won the November 2020 presidential election.
“Soon after election day – which was November 3, 2020 – the accused began his criminal plan,” the indictment states.
“The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false allegations of election fraud.”
According to the indictment, Trump planned to use then-Vice President Mike Pence’s role as presiding officer at the January 6, 2021 joint session to throw out several states’ votes.
However, Pence refused and issued a public statement saying he did not believe the constitution granted him those powers.
Scores of Trump supporters stormed the Congress building later that day as Trump tweeted that his vice president “didn’t have the guts to do what needed to be done.”
Trump responds
The former president – and the Republicans’ favorite in next year’s election – lashed out at Smith on Tuesday, accusing him of filing “yet another false charge” to “interfere with the (upcoming) presidential election.”
“Why didn’t they do this two and a half years ago?” Trump wants to know in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “Why did they wait so long?
“Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my campaign,” is Trump’s conclusion.
