Trump indicted over alleged efforts to overturn 2020 election

Former President Donald Trump was indicted Tuesday on federal charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The indictment, issued via the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, charged Trump with four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. Trump's criminal charges come two weeks after he received a target letter informing him that he was the subject of a Justice Department investigation into his actions following the election.

The indictment, spearheaded by special counsel Jack Smith, alleges that Trump "was determined to remain in power" despite having lost, and "spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election" in order to "create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger." It was also noted that Trump's "efforts to change the outcome in any state through recounts, audits or legal challenges were uniformly unsuccessful."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

This marks the second federal indictment that has been brought against Trump, and the third time overall that he's been criminally charged since leaving office. The prior federal case, also brought by Smith, was handed down this past June, and concerns Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump also faces state charges in New York for allegedly falsifying business records. He has pleaded not guilty in both of these cases and awaits trial in both.

In a statement, the Trump campaign called the latest indictment "nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden crime family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 presidential election." There is no evidence that President Biden ordered the indictment of Trump.

The former president is due in court this coming Thursday.