A DC-based grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump on four counts related to the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, directly charging him with obstructing the certification of the electoral vote and three conspiracies.

Trump, who is again running for president, has been ordered to appear in court on Thursday.

The 45-page indictment accuses Trump of lying that he had won the election for more than two months in an attempt to remain in power.

Us v Trump Indictment Dc 2020 Election by kc wildmoon on Scribd

“These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false,” the indictment reads. “But the Defendant repeated and widely disseminated them anyway — yo make his knowingly false claims appear legitimate, create an instense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and erode public faith in the administration of the election.”

The defendant, as the loser of the election, had the right to challenge the election results in a number of legal and formal manners and did so “in many cases,” which “were uniformly unsuccessful.”

“Shortly after election day,” the indictment reads, “the Defendant also pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results,” resulting in the three conspiracies of the indictment:

• A conspiracy to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function by with the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371;
• A conspiracy to corruptly obstruct and impede the January 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified (“the certification proceeding”), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(k); and
• A conspiracy against the right to vote and have one’s vote counted, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241.

The fourth count relates to the second conspiracy and alleges that Trump, separate from the conspiracy, obstructed and attempted to obstruct the certification proceeding on January 6, 2021.

The indictment charges that Trump was assisted in the schemes by six unnamed and unindicted co-conspirators, who include several attorneys and at least one Justice Department official.

The grand jury heard testimony from multiple witness, including former White House aides like Hope Hicks and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as well as state election officials who were caught up in the scheme to submit “fake electors” for Vice President Mike Pence to pick over the lawfully chosen electors on January 6.

Smith, the special prosecutor, delivered a statement encouraging all Americans to read the indictment, as he did in the documents probe indictment.

“The attack on our nation’s capitol on January 6 was an unprecendentated assault on the seat of American democracy,” he said. “It is described in the indictment as fueled by lies, lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S government, the nationals process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.”

Smith praised the men and women who defended the Capitol  — and the lawmakers inside it —  that day as “heroes” and “patriots” who “put their lives on the line to defend who we are as a country and as a people.”

Tuesday’s indictment is the third to land on the ex-president’s doorstep after last month’s indictment in Florida for his alleged mishandling of classified material after leaving office and the April indictment in New York on charges that he falsified business records to hide a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The classified documents indictment and Tuesday’s indictment were handled by special prosecutor Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to probe those two cases. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg handled the Stormy Daniels indictment. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is also probing Trump’s alleged attempts to sway Georgia officials to alter the vote count for him, and an indictment in that case could come by the end of the month.

Trump, as he has each time he has been indicted, immediately took to his Truth Social media platform to condemn the indictment as a “witch hunt.” He has pleaded not guilty to all charges so far.

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[Featured image: FILE – Donald Trump recording a video statement on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, from the Rose Garden. (House Select Committee via AP, File)]