Donald Trump has become familiar with the process of indictments. It usually starts with him posting something negative on his social media platform, Truth Social, announcing that he’s been informed about pending charges. Then, there is an anticipation for the actual indictment, which is eventually revealed, accompanied by more angry posts from Trump and a press conference held by a serious-looking prosecutor in front of an American flag.
The first two indictments focused on Trump’s involvement in hush-money payments and the hiding of classified documents. These raised concerns about his abuse of authority and his willingness to cheat and deceive in order to gain and retain power. However, the most recent indictment strikes the hardest blow. Special Counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and for his role in fueling the January 6 insurrection.
This indictment directly addresses Trump’s desperate efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. The government asserts that Trump knowingly made false claims about election fraud. He has been charged with the crime of conspiracy against the United States, obstructing an official proceeding (Congress’s counting of the electoral vote on January 6), and violating Section 241, a law that prohibits conspiring against the rights of others. In this case, the rights in question are those of the voters whose ballots Trump sought to disregard for his own gain.
The indictment tells a compelling story of what transpired after the 2020 election leading up to January 6. Trump and unnamed co-conspirators tried to convince state officials to ignore the popular vote in favor of Trump. When that failed, they orchestrated the involvement of “fake electors” to cast doubt on Biden’s victory in the Electoral College. They also pressured the Justice Department to influence state legislatures, and when that didn’t work, they attempted to manipulate Vice President Mike Pence into disrupting the electoral vote count. When Pence refused, Trump resorted to inciting violence, encouraging a mob to march on the Capitol and threaten Pence into submission.
The special counsel’s account of these events is a stark reminder that all of this actually happened, despite Trump and his allies’ denials. Interestingly, a significant portion of the indictment draws from the narrative presented by the House select committee on the January 6 attack. This gives the indictment added weight and credibility, emphasizing the committee’s work.
During the period from November 2020 to January 2021, the broad outline of events was apparent to anyone following the news. Trump actively encouraged the riot and expressed his support for it on social media. However, the January 6 committee uncovered evidence of Trump’s direct involvement in the schemes orchestrated by his supporters. They also gathered extensive testimony revealing how many times Trump was informed that his claims of fraud were baseless and that he had lost the election. These findings form the backbone of the indictment’s narrative and bolster the argument of Trump’s legal culpability.
Some of the most striking quotes in the indictment come from witnesses who testified before the committee. For example, an unnamed “Co-Conspirator 1” told Rusty Bowers, the speaker of the Arizona house, that they didn’t have evidence but had plenty of theories about election fraud. Bowers confirmed this in his public hearing testimony before the committee, clarifying that these words were spoken by Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
This doesn’t mean that the indictment is merely a repetition of what has already been heard. There are new details, such as Pence’s contemporaneous notes of his conversations with Trump during the final months. Additionally, an email from a campaign adviser complaining about conspiracy theories emerging from the Trump camp adds a chilling dimension. In another disturbing revelation, the indictment recounts a conversation between “Co-Conspirator 4” (presumably Jeffrey Clark, an official from the Justice Department) and a White House lawyer who opposed Clark’s plan to keep Trump in power. The lawyer expressed concerns about potential riots, to which Clark referenced the Insurrection Act as a response.
January 6 committee senior investigator Soumya Dayananda described the committee’s work as educating the country about what the former president did and achieving long-awaited accountability. Special Counsel Jack Smith clearly believes he has strong evidence to prove the charges against Trump beyond a reasonable doubt.
Throughout the committee’s efforts, there was tension between House investigators and the Justice Department. They clashed over access to evidence, and the committee’s progress seemed to prod the department into speeding up its own investigation. Now, six months after the House completed its work, the executive branch has taken up the baton and started its own pursuit of justice.
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