By Aaron Miller-
Donald Trump has been indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith at the United States District Court in Washington DC on Tuesday evening.
The former US President Donald Trump has been charged with multiple offences including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights, and conspiracy to defraud the United States by blocking Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.
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The 45-page court document focuses on alleged schemes by the former U.S president and his allies to supplant the transfer of power accompanying the certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the U.S 2020 elections, and keep him in the White House despite his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
It adds to Trump’s other outstanding legal woes.
Last Thursday, prosecutors added three more criminal counts against Trump, bringing the total to 40, accusing him of ordering employees to delete security videos as he was under investigation for retaining the documents.
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Trump has falsely stated that the result of the November 2020 election was incorrect, with many of his supporters and confidants also expressing doubts about the vote.
Smith has been investigating allegations that Trump and his allies sought to overturn Democratic rival Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
The Trump campaign has put out a statement in response describing the indictment as “reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s”.
The statement refers to the indictment as “the latest corrupt chapter” aimed at disrupting the 2024 presidential elections, and part of wider “un-American witch hunts.”
Trump, 77, posted on his social media site, Truth Social, just before the indictment: “I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favourite President, me, at 5pm.
“Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long?
“Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!”
The indictment also mentions six unnamed co-conspirators who, according to prosecutors, aided Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
The opening page of an indictment against former U.S. President Donald Trump is seen after he was hit with criminal charges for a third time in four months, in a photo illustration August 1, 2023.Reuters/Chris Helgren
Trump has been summoned to appear in a Washington DC court on Thursday at 4pm local time to appear before Judge Moxila Upadhyaya.
The former president already faces criminal charges in two other cases, as his campaign trail ploughs full steam ahead towards the election next year.
Smith, who was appointed as special counsel in November by US Attorney Merrick Garland, previously charged Trump with unlawfully retaining classified government documents after leaving office in January 2021 and obstructing justice.
Trump also faces trial in New York City for falsifying business records to do with hush money payments to an adult film star.
Despite this being Trump’s third indictment, he remains the front-runner for the 2024 Republican party presidential nomination, according to public opinion polls.
Trump pleaded not guilty after a federal grand jury in Miami convened by the special counsel charged him in June in a 37-count indictment over his unlawfully retention of classified government documents after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing justice. Prosecutors accused him of risking some of the most sensitive US national security secrets.
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