Trump federally indicted in 2020 election probe
Published August 1, 2023last updated August 2, 2023
What you need to know
Federal criminal charges were filed against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday for his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 US election and the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump was indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US and witness tampering.
The former US president was summoned to appear in federal court in Washington on Thursday. Prosecutor Jack Smith said he would seek a "speedy trial" in the case.
In Florida, Trump already faces dozens of federal charges over the retention of sensitive government records he kept at his Mar-a-Lago mansion.
He also faces separate charges in New York following an investigation into hush money allegedly paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges in those ongoing cases.
A district attorney in Georgia is also investigating Trump over his efforts overturn the 2020 election results in that state.
Biden silent on Trump indictment
The White House and President Joe Biden declined to comment following the announcement of the indictment.
"We would refer you to the Justice Department, which conducts its criminal investigations independently," White House spokesperson Ian Sams said.
Biden did not respond to reporter's questions on the same issue.
The comments on Tuesday follow a similar White House statement from last week.
"The Department of Justice is independent," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last Friday.
"You hear us say this all the time: We believe in the rule of law. The president has been very consistent on that."
Could Trump be next indicted in Georgia?
In addition to three indictments, Trump faces a fourth criminal investigation in Georgia by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Willis has indicated she plans to bring charges in August.
The prosecutor is investigating accusations that Trump pressured officials in the southern US state to overturn President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. Biden was the first Democrat to win Georgia in a presidential election since Bill Clinton in 1992.
One piece of evidence in the case is the recording of a phone call in which Trump asks Georgia's secretary-of-state at the time, Brad Raffensperger, to "find 11,780" votes in order to overturn the result.
How did prominent politicians react to the indictment?
Former Vice President Mike Pence condemned Trump's actions surrounding the attack on the US Capitol after prosecutors unsealed the indictment against his former boss.
Pence said that the charges serve as a reminder that "anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be the President of the United States."
"Our country is more important than one man. Our constitution is more important than any one man's career," he said.
Pence is running for nomination as the Republican Party's candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
Another GOP candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said in reaction to the indictment that he would stop what he called the "weaponization of government."
"As President, I will end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI Director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans," he said, adding that he had not yet read the indictment.
"I do, though, believe we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right to remove cases from Washington, DC to their home districts," he said.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy echoed the claims that the indictment was politicized.
"Everyone in America could see what was going to come next: DOJ's attempt to distract from the news and attack the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, President Trump," he said. "House Republicans will continue to uncover the truth about Biden Inc. and the two-tiered system of justice."
Republican House majority leader Steve Scalise called the indictment an "outrageous abuse of power."
"Let's be clear about what’s happening: Biden's DOJ is cutting sweetheart deals for Hunter to cover for the Biden Family's influence peddling schemes while at the same time trying to persecute his leading political opponent," he said. "It's an outrageous abuse of power."
Meanwhile, Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who is a Democrat, urged for the process to go on without "interference."
"The charges alleged in this indictment are very serious, and they must play out through the legal process, peacefully and without any outside interference," she said. "Like every criminal defendant, the former President is innocent until proven guilty."
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the indictment a "stark reminder" that the president is not "above the law" in a joint statement.
"This indictment is the most serious and most consequential thus far and will stand as a stark reminder to generations of Americans that no one, including a president of the United States, is above the law."
Key takeaways from the Trump 2020 election probe indictment
The 45-page indictment accused Trump of urging officials in certain states to disregard the popular vote.
"The Defendant pushed officials in certain states to ignore the popular vote; disenfranchise millions of voters; dismiss legitimate electors," prosecutors said of Trump.
"The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election," the indictment said.
Prosecutors said that Trump "was entitled to formally challenge the result of the election, and to file lawsuits which he did," but later "broke the law by pursuing illegal ways to overturn the election."
The indictment said that Trump was advised by several officials, including former Vice President Mike Pence, that claims he had made on voting fraud during the 2020 presidential election were false.
According to prosecutors, Trump told Pence at least three times that he had the authority to reject the electoral results. The indictment said that when Pence pushed back on the plan, Trump told him: "You're too honest."
Prosecutors said that Trump refused to follow his adviser's suggestion to send a message telling rioters to leave the Capitol on January 6. The indictment said that the former president "exploited" the attack.
The indictment cites text messages Trump staffers sent each other describing his attempt to certify fake slates of electors as "crazy" and "illegal."
Prosecutor Jack Smith seeks 'speedy trial'
In a statement read to reporters after the indictment against Trump was unsealed, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith called the attack on the Capitol an "unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy."
Smith was tasked with investigating Trump's role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The indictment charges the former president with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to disenfranchise voters and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, Smith said.
He said that Trump had spread "lies … targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the US government."
Smith said that his office would "seek a speedy trial" in the case.
Trump summoned to appear in Washington court
Former President Donald Trump has been summoned to appear before the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday.
He will face US District Judge Tanya Chutkan. She was appointed in 2014 by Barack Obama.
Earlier, Trump was federally charged over his possession of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Presiding over that case is US District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump in 2020.
Cannon set May 24 for the trial date on the docs case, just months before the 2024 presidential election in November.
sdi, lo/wd (Reuters, AFP)