Washington. Donald Trump was charged Tuesday with criminal offenses for the third time in four months – this time stemming from efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election – as he campaigns to regain the presidency next year.
The charges stem from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into allegations that Trump – the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – tried to reverse a defeat to Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Minutes before the indictment was released, Trump posted on his Truth social media platform that he had heard he was going to be indicted.
“I have heard that the deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere in the 2024 presidential election, will bring another false impeachment against his favorite president,” he wrote.
Officials have testified that Trump pressured them based on false claims of widespread voter fraud. His supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
On July 18, Trump said he had received a letter from Smith telling him that he was under a grand jury investigation for the January 6 events in Washington.
Trump, who had already become the first former US president to face criminal charges, has sought to present the allegations as part of a politically motivated witch hunt.
It is the second round of federal indictments against Smith, who was appointed special prosecutor in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Trump pleaded not guilty after a federal grand jury in Miami convened by the special counsel in June indicted 37 counts of his unlawful withholding of classified government documents after leaving office in 2021 and obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors accused him of jeopardizing some of America’s most sensitive national security secrets.
Prosecutors on Thursday added three more criminal charges against Trump, bringing the total to 40, accusing him of ordering employees to delete security video while under investigation for withholding the documents.
The first charges brought against Trump arose in March, when a grand jury convened by the Manhattan district attorney indicted him.
In April, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush-buying payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said she had with him. The billionaire has denied the encounter.
Trump, 77, is leading the field of Republican presidential hopefuls as they seek a rematch with Biden, 80. The Democratic president launched his re-election campaign in April.
Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, has shown an ability to survive legal troubles, political controversies and personal behaviors that could sink other politicians.
Many Republicans – elected officials and voters – have rallied behind Trump, portraying the charges against him as selective impeachment and a Democratic plot to destroy him politically.
Analysts say that while the allegations could help Trump consolidate support within his base and win the Republican nomination, his ability to capitalize on them may be more limited in next year’s general election, when he will have to win. more skeptical moderate Republicans and independents. (Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen and Sarah N. Lynch; Writing by Joseph Ax. Editing in Spanish by Javier Leira)
