Former president Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury after an investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his actions leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office announced Tuesday evening.
Trump has been charged with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The 45-page indictment was handed down shortly after Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he heard “Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M.”
“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!” Trump added.
The indictment lists six unnamed co-conspirators, including several attorneys, a DOJ official and a political consultant. It alleges Trump “pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results.”
“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false,” the indictment reads.
Prosecutors say Trump urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to help him overturn the election during at least four calls in late 2020 and early 2021. Trump allegedly told Pence he was “too honest” when the vice president pushed back against the idea and said he did not have the authority, the indictment says.
Trump is set to appear in a D.C. court on Thursday before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
Smith addressed the indictment in a brief statement to reporters on Tuesday.
“The attack on our nation’s capitol on January 6 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” he said at the news conference. “As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies.”
“My office will seek a speedy trial so our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens,” he added.
The indictment comes weeks after the former president said he had received a target letter in the probe. The House select committee that investigated the Capitol riot previously made referrals to the Department of Justice on four charges: inciting or aiding an insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy to make a false statement.
“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social last month.
He participated in a town hall with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in Iowa later that day, where he told the pro-Trump crowd that the letter “bothers” him.
“I got the letter on Sunday night. Think of it. I don’t think they’ve ever sent a letter on Sunday night,” Trump said. “And they’re in a rush, because they want to interfere. It’s interference with the election. It’s election interference. Never been done like this in the history of our country, and it’s a disgrace.”
Trump is already facing 42 felony counts as a result of special counsel Jack Smith’s separate investigation into the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. Before that, Trump was indicted in Manhattan on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.
He is also facing a separate criminal investigation by a Georgia state prosecutor into his alleged efforts to influence the 2020 election results in the Peach State. Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis signaled that she plans to decide whether to bring charges in the case sometime this month.
In recent weeks, Trump’s 2024 Republican challengers have had mixed reactions to the news that Trump could be indicted for a third time.
Pence, who was in the Capitol on January 6 as the then-president’s supporters called for him to be hanged, reacted to the news around the target letter by saying Trump’s actions were “reckless” but that he hopes the president will not be indicted.
“I’m not convinced that the president acting on the bad advice of a group of crank lawyers that came into the White House in the days before Jan. 6 is actually criminal,” said Pence, who has testified before the grand jury in the case.
“I don’t know what the letter today means, the notification means, but my hope is that the judgment about the president’s actions on Jan. 6 would be left to the American people,” he added.
Asa Hutchinson, who has been one of the most vocal critics of Trump in the race, on Tuesday reiterated his call for the former president to drop out of the race.
“This is another sad day for America with a former President being charged criminally for obstructing the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next,” Hutchinson said. “January 6 is a day that calls for accountability for those responsible. I have always said that Donald Trump is morally responsible for the attack on our democracy. Now, our system of Justice will determine whether he is criminally responsible.”
“The latest indictment reaffirms my earlier call that Donald Trump should step away from the campaign for the good of the country. If not, the voters must choose a different path,” he added.