Last Tuesday, in Washington, a federal grand jury indicted former U.S. President Donald Trump. Why? Well, they believe he illegally attempted to reverse his 2020 election loss, so he could hold onto power. This just adds another legal worry for Trump while he’s trying to win back the White House in the 2024 election.
Led by Justice Department special counsel, Jack Smith, they filed a hefty four-count indictment. Now, this wasn’t a snap decision. The grand jury spent months listening to memories and testimonials from some of Trump’s closest allies. They laid out the story of how Trump attempted – but ultimately failed – to turn his election loss into a victory against Democrat Joe Biden. As we all know, Biden ended up taking office as the U.S. President in January 2021.
The indictment report, which is 45 pages long, implies that 77-year-old Trump conspired to carry out fraudulent acts against the United States, threatened people’s rights, and hindered an official proceeding by Congress — the count of electoral votes affirming Biden’s win. Additionally, he obstructed another official proceeding, the Electoral College vote count, which happened on January 6, 2021, when about 2,000 of Trump’s followers launched an aggressive protest at the American Capitol.
In all of the United States’ 247 years, this is the first time a past president has been accused of unlawfully trying to cling to power for another four years instead of willingly, albeit unwillingly, giving it up to his successor. Trump’s initial judicial review for this case is expected to happen on Thursday.
Trump insists, with no factual basis, that he lost his chance at a second term due to voter fraud and other irregularities in the election. This is in spite of many judges debunking his accusations in the weeks following the 2020 election.
According to the indictment, even after losing, the Defendant wanted to stay in control. So, for over two months after the election that took place on November 3, 2020, he persisted in falsely asserting that the results had been tampered with, ruining the election’s credibility and, contrary to the truth, that he was the actual winner.
No doubt about it, these allegations were all incorrect, and the Defendant was fully aware that they weren’t the truth, the indictment asserted. But still, Trump went on to spread these unfounded claims far and wide. Why? To make them look convincing, stir up a nationwide atmosphere of skepticism and fury, and gradually chip away at the public’s trust in election management.
The indictment claims that Trump and his gang tried to mess with one of the most fundamental workings of the US government, specifically counting and validating presidential election votes. Supposedly, Trump worked with six mystery individuals to try to turn the election sideways.
Among these individuals were four lawyers giving him advice, a Justice Department authority, and a political adviser who’s alleged to have “assisted in making a dodgey plan to submit fake lists of presidential electors [supporting Trump] in order to throw a wrench in the certification process” that showed Biden as the winner.
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