(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A grand jury returned with a four-count indictment against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, accusing him of perpetrating three criminal conspiracies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights and obstruction of an official proceeding.
The charges stem from three alleged conspiracies by Trump: one to pressure state officials to disregard voting results, another to organize slates of so-called “fake electors” and a third to interfere with the election-certification process at Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021.
Though the indictment doesn’t blame Trump for inciting violence on J6, it does accuse him of exploiting what happened that day.
“After it became public on the afternoon of January 6 that the Vice President would not fraudulently alter the election results, a large and angry crows—including many individuals whom the defendant had deceived into believing the Vice President could and might change the election results—violently attacked the Capitol and halted the proceedings,” the indictment states.
“As violence ensued, the defendant and co-conspirators exploited the disruption by redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims.”
Reacting to the latest indictment against him, the Trump campaign called it the latest example of the Biden administration weaponizing the Justice Department.
“But why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024? Why was it announced the day after the big Crooked Joe Biden scandal broke out from the Halls of Congress?” the Trump campaign asked rhetorically.
“The answer is, election interference! The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.”
The indictment filed Tuesday night is the third criminal case filed against the former president and current frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential race.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
