On August 1, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Donald Trump of 4 counts of criminal felonies. Trump was arraigned in Federal Court in Washington, D.C. at 4 p.m. on Thursday, August 3. The first hearing in this case is scheduled for August 28 at 10 a.m.
The charges revolve around Trump’s and 6 identified (but not named) co-conspirators’ efforts to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The charges are centered on three criminal conspiracies:
A conspiracy to defraud the United States of America through dishonesty or deceit, obstructing official government function of collecting, counting, and certifying the 2020 presidential election
A conspiracy to corruptly obstruct the January 6 congressional proceeding of counting and certifying the electoral college votes for the 2020 presidential election
A civil rights conspiracy for plotting to subvert the will of voters
These efforts included, as outlined in the indictment, the scheme to get slates of electors in 6 states to cast fraudulent electoral college certificates, efforts to get state legislatures to take various efforts to supersede or nullify the results of the election, the effort to obstruct the January 6th count and certification of the electoral college vote at the Capitol, and the insurrection that occurred on that day after all of these efforts were unsuccessful.
The 4 charges in this indictment are the second set of federal charges Trump has faced in recent months. The first focused on his obstruction of justice and unlawful retention of highly confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago property. All in, he is currently charged with 44 federal criminal charges. He also faces a 34 count indictment in New York state court, and may face additional charges in Fulton County, Georgia.
The indictment was brought by a grand jury of everyday citizens convened by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Jack Smith is a veteran Justice Department prosecutor.
In November 2022 Smith was tasked with investigating Donald Trump and his allies’ attempts to interfere with the 2020 presidential election by U.S. Attorney general Merrick Garland, based on a referral from the January 6th Committee in the Summer of 2022. The grand jury he convened has heard from dozens of witnesses, including Vice President Mike Pence, his aides, various Trump campaign lawyers, secret service agents, and state and local officials in all seven states where Trump allies sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
