The leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination will appear before a trial judge on charges including conspiracy to defraud the nation. The courthouse is located very close to the Capitol, where Trump supporters stormed on January 6, 2021 to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
It is the third criminal case brought against Trump this year, but the first to try to hold him criminally accountable for his efforts to cling to power in the weeks between his election loss and the storming of the Capitol that stunned the world as it unfolded live on television.
Trump’s motorcade made its way through the busy streets of the nation’s capital, using lights and sirens.
Trump has said he did nothing wrong and has accused Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith of trying to thwart his chances of returning to the White House in 2024.
Smith formally filed four criminal charges against Trump Tuesday related to his efforts to overturn his election defeat, which culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection on Capitol Hill. The charges, which include conspiracy to defraud the government and conspiracy to obstruct an official process, could get him years in prison if convicted.
The former Republican president is the only defendant in the case, although prosecutors named — without identifying them — six conspirators, mostly lawyers, in a scheme to procure fake voters in seven battleground states where Democrat Joe Biden prevailed to submit false certificates. to the federal government.
The indictment details how Trump and his allies repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after the election and pressured Vice President Mike Pence and election officials to take steps to help him cling to power.
This is the third criminal charge brought against Trump in the past six months.
He is charged in New York with falsifying company documents in connection with paying bribes to silence a porn actress during the 2016 election campaign. Smith’s office accused him of illegally withholding secret documents at his Mar-a-residence. Lake, in Florida. In both cases he pleaded not guilty and will go to trial next year.
In addition, the Fulton County, Georgia, prosecutor’s office will present the results of its investigation into attempts to subvert the election results in that state in the coming weeks.
Trump’s lawyer, John Lauro, has said in TV interviews that Trump’s actions were protected by the right to free speech and that he relied on the advice of his lawyers. Trump has made an unsubstantiated claim that Smith is trying to interfere with the 2024 election. Trump is the early poll favorite for the Republican nomination.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
