Trump indicted over Capitol riot
Former US President Donald Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury regarding his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election on Tuesday.
The Republican 2024 frontrunner faces four charges: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The indictment also lists six unnamed co-conspirators, including four lawyers, a justice department official, and a political consultant.
The charging document alleges that by disseminating false claims about his victory, “creat[ing] an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and erod[ing] public faith in the administration of the election,” Trump laid the groundwork for his “conspiracies” – all of which, it claims, “targeted a bedrock function of the United States federal government.”
On Friday, Trump was indicted on charges of trying to “alter, destroy, mutilate or conceal evidence,” inducing someone else to do so, and willfully retaining national defense information related to a presentation about military activity in another country – adding to the existing 37 federal counts against him that stemmed from his allegedly illegal possession of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
He was also indicted in Manhattan district court in April on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the alleged payment of hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges thus far and continues to enjoy a significant lead over his Republican primary challengers. Federal indictments do not prevent a candidate from campaigning for the presidency.
