(4) Legal Problems faced by Both Candidates
It has been very rare in the history of Presidential Elections in the US, that one of the two candidates, from the two main parties looks so submerged into legal trouble, just a few months prior to the Elections! Donald J. Trump was struggling to prove himself clean of all kinds of legal trouble facing him before a few months, (as of August 25th, 2024).
On the other hand, Kamala Harris herself is not facing any legal issue ahead on a personal basis. However, her predecessor Joe Biden is! The Republicans will leave no stone unturned to enhance the legal woes of Biden because it will affect Harris too in a certain manner. In the last 90 days before the election, Trump and Vance will keep raising issues like the so-called bribe taken by Joe Biden's son Hunter from Ukrainian company Burisma, etc. during election rallies as well as debates, to paint an ugly picture about the Biden-Harris administration. But this will not amount to any serious developments like herself going to jail, etc. for the so-called crimes of Biden or his son Hunter. Whereas in the case of Trump, the charges are leveled against him and some of them are serious enough to send him to jail for a long time, unless and until he gets elected as President once again and passes an executive order to dismiss all the charges leveled against him. So he should get elected, or else he is very likely to spend the rest of his life in prison. Let's have a look at both - the legal problems faced by Trump and by Harris. First, let's go for Trump's legal problems.
Legal problems faced by Donald J. Trump:
Trump of course, looks more surrounded by these troubles than Harris. He has 3 indictments and 51 felony charges facing him! Imagine a guy with 51 felony charges and still running for Presidency!! Sounds impossible, isn't it?? Yet, here we are...the main candidate of the Republican Party, faced with so much legal trouble, yet running for being the next President!!! One would think that with so much trouble, the kind of support he is getting should be minimal. But No...he is getting a lot of support, despite all the legal trouble....!
In fact, after the "guilty" verdict pronounced against him in the Hush Money Trial case, his popularity ratings soared immediately!! Most Democrats now choose to call him "a criminal wanting to become the President", because of the unexpected Guilty verdict in the Hush Money Trial case. But Trump seems to be totally unaffected by such conclusions from the Democrats. He is walking his own course and now in a much more powerful manner indeed! The Republican party supporters however view him as a Hero, now that despite all these, he is showing resilience and fortitude beyond compare. For them, he is the guy just fighting it out, one day after the other, all for this great country. Else why should a billionaire go through all these troubles?? He has his luxurious homes, resorts, and farmhouses in Florida, where he can just forget everything and relax....! But he is NOT preferring to do that. Instead, he is addressing rallies, one by one throughout the country from the west coast to the east coast. He goes to Las Vegas in Nevada one day in the west, and on the very next day he is found addressing a rally, thousands of miles away at North Carolina in the east of the country! He goes to the extreme south in Texas and then the very next day addresses a rally in Maine, in the extreme northern part! So much travel, so much of moving from place to place...and still he never seems tired!?! All for the sake of the people of America...Thus, he is "a true patriot" - in the eyes of the Republicans.
The Democrats, however, view him as a selfish person doing all these only for himself. For them, he is a criminal, who doesn't care about the American middle class and the poor people. He is the one responsible for dividing the country into two factions. He is a dictator who wants to overthrow the Constitution, the one created by our forefathers for generations to follow, so that he can keep ruling over the country for years and years till he dies! According to them, all the 3 indictments against him as well as the 51 felony charges are all justified completely, and he should be in jail sooner or later!!
Let us examine the cases against Trump, one by one, and see how much merit lies in them. There are 3 indictments against him as of now:
In 2023, criminal indictments were filed against Donald Trump, president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Two indictments are on state charges (one in New York and one in Georgia) and one indictment is on federal charges (in the District of Columbia).
(1) The New York Trial or The Hush Money Trial
(The Prosecution of Donald Trump in New York)
The People of the State of New York versus Donald J. Trump is a criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels, to ensure her silence about a sexual encounter between them; with costs related to the transaction included, the payments totaled $420,000. The Manhattan District Attorney (DA), Alvin Bragg, accused Trump of falsifying these business records with the intent to commit other crimes: violation of federal campaign finance limits, unlawfully influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and tax fraud.
The indictment, the first of a former U.S. president, was approved by a Manhattan grand jury on March 30, 2023. On April 3, Trump traveled from his residence in Florida to New York City, where he surrendered to the Manhattan DA's office and was arraigned the next day. Trump pleaded not guilty and stated that he would continue to campaign for the 2024 presidential election, even if convicted. The trial began on April 15, 2024. On April 30, Trump also became the first U.S. president to be held in criminal contempt of court, due to comments he made earlier in the month about individuals involved with the trial.
The prosecution argued that Trump's 2016 campaign sought to benefit from the payment of hush money to Daniels through Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who was reimbursed via a false retainer agreement. The prosecution rested on May 20, after calling 20 witnesses. The defense argued that Trump was unaware of any allegedly unlawful scheme, that Cohen was unreliable as a witness, and that the retainer agreement between them was valid. The defense rested on May 21 after calling two witnesses. Throughout proceedings, the defense also made unsuccessful requests for the case to be delayed or dismissed, for the judge to recuse himself, and for a mistrial.
Trump was convicted on all counts on May 30, becoming the first U.S. president to have been convicted of a felony in any state or federal court. Sentencing was scheduled for July 11th, 2024, which then got postponed to September 18th, 2024. Trump has said he will appeal against the ruling.
Eligibility for becoming the President:
The Article II of the U.S. Constitution does not have any rules blocking presidential candidates with criminal records. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier in Trump v. Anderson that Congress would have to pass a special law, invoking the prohibition in section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which states "no one who has previously taken an oath of office, who engages in insurrection, can be an officer of the US". In the absence of enough strength to pass this kind of special law, Trump is and will remain eligible to become the President, despite his previous criminal record.
Verdict:
On May 30 at 5:07 pm EDT, Trump was found GUILTY on all 34 counts, making him the very first former U.S. president to be convicted of a felony. Merchan denied a defense motion for the acquittal.
Reactions:
After the trial, Trump called the trial a "disgrace", saying it was a "rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt". He had claimed that November 5, Election Day, would be the date of his "real verdict by the people" and that "this was long from over." Trump described the trial as a "sham", likened Merchan to the "devil", and subsequently self-identified as a "political prisoner." Following the conviction, the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign said that they raised over $53 million the following week, and subsequently warned other Republican candidates not to fund-raise off Trump's conviction. On June 6, a besieged Trump described the trial as lawfare and stated he would seek retribution through the prosecution of those involved in his trials, noting how "sometimes revenge can be justified."
Bragg emphasized that the jury had reached a "unanimous conclusion" that Trump had falsified business records "to conceal a scheme" to corrupt the 2016 election. While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors." He added: "I did my job" and that "the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury and the jury has spoken."
White House Counsel spokesperson Ian Sams issued a one-sentence comment: "We respect the Rule of Law, and have no additional comments." House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called the verdict "a shameful day in American history" describing the trial as a "purely political exercise, not a legal one." House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said "Extremist Democrats have undermined our democracy by weaponizing the courts." Several of Trump's Republican proponents have stated that the conviction is good for Trump, likening him to a martyr. Melania Trump did not attend her husband's trial.
Post-trial proceedings:
Gag order:
On May 31, 2024, Trump told reporters that he was under a "nasty gag order" and sought to have it expire following the trial's conclusion. On June 4, his attorney Blanche filed a motion to have the gag order lifted, stating "Now that the trial is concluded, the concerns articulated by the Government and the Court do not justify the restrictions on the First Amendment Rights of President Trump". If the gag order is lifted, Trump is expected to assail trial participants including the witnesses, jury, and court staff, as well as their families. On June 5, Matthew Colangelo asked that the gag order remain in place "to protect the integrity of these proceedings and the fair administration of justice at least through the sentencing, hearing and the resolution of any post-trial motions."
Sentencing
On June 10, 2024, Trump and Todd Blanche attended his probation interview via a Video Conference. If placed on probation, Trump cannot associate with other convicted felons.
Trump's sentencing hearing was scheduled for July 11, 2024. Before his conviction, officials in state and federal agencies began preparing for possible incarceration. Trump's rhetoric and lack of acknowledgment of any wrongdoing are expected to negatively impact the leniency of his sentence. Trump's proponents have stated that any sentence restricting Trump's mobility or communication with the voters could undermine confidence in the 2024 Presidential Elections.
Appeal
Trump has a right to one level of appeal and is expected to use it. The appeal would be heard by the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, which is the intermediate state appellate court, covering Manhattan. If unsuccessful, the next step would be the New York Court of Appeals, which has discretion whether to hear an appeal. Trump could attempt to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court based on its reliance on federal campaign finance limits (and not only New York state laws) or alleged violations of due process. Trump, along with Republican allies, has urged the Supreme Court to intervene, ahead of his sentencing, though such intervention ahead of the appeals process would be unusual. New York trial and appellate lawyer Mark C. Zauderer, who sits on the Judicial Screening Committee for the state appellate court, told the New York Times "This case has none of the usual red flags for reversal on appeal. The judge's demeanor was flawless." Bragg's head of appeals is Steven C. Wu.
Congressional response
Following the verdict, on May 31, 2024, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, Jim Jordan, asked for Alvin Bragg and Matthew Colangelo to testify before the United States House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on June 13. On June 3, Jordan stated, "We should use the power of the purse" and he sent a new letter to the House Appropriations Committee for the 2025 Fiscal year budget recommendations for stripping funding from State and local Prosecutors. On June 4, House Speaker Mike Johnson stated Republicans would seek to defund the Justice Department, New York, and other jurisdictions for investigating Trump.
Firearms license revocation
On June 5, 2024, it was reported that Trump's New York firearm license is expected to be revoked after the New York City Police Department's Legal Bureau completes its investigation. Trump's New York concealed carry license had already been suspended since April 1, 2023, following his indictment on criminal charges. On March 31, 2023, Trump turned over two of the three pistols he was licensed for, to the New York Police Department (NYPD) with a third pistol moved to Florida. At Trump's pre-sentence hearing on June 10, CNN reported that Trump was still in possession of the third firearm in Florida. New York state law and federal laws prohibit people with felony convictions from possessing a firearm, and the licenses are typically revoked, following a criminal conviction.
As of Today:
The sentencing of this case has been postponed to September 18th. Trump will either get a jail sentence or he will not. If he gets a jail sentence, he won't be able to address any further election rallies after that. Yet he might get elected as President. If that happens he will take his oath of office from a jail, which will be an unprecedented event in the history of the United States. However, if he loses the Presidency to Kamala Harris, he will remain in prison for as long a time, as is mentioned in his Sentence. It can be 6 months, 2 years, or even longer than 2 years. Under these circumstances, Vice President Harris would leave no stone unturned, to see to it that Trump's legal trouble increases furthermore. She will try to add to Trump's jail sentence by weaponizing the legal system, to catch him for some kind of wrongdoing once again, to say the least, in at least one of the 3 remaining indictments, hanging over his head right now. It's then likely that Trump will die in jail. In other words, the jail sentences will be long enough to ensure that he would then never come out of jail alive.
(2) The Georgia Case:
Trump was indicted on state charges in an August 2023 indictment in Georgia. Trump faces 10 criminal charges related to alleged attempts to overturn Joe Biden's victory in Georgia, alongside 18 other accused co-conspirators. The trial is not yet scheduled. Trump initially faced 13 criminal charges, 3 of which were later dismissed.
This case is also known as "Georgia election racketeering prosecution of Trump". It is a pending criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, and 18 co-defendants. The prosecution alleges that Trump led a "criminal racketeering enterprise", in which he and all other defendants "knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome" of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia. All defendants are charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which has a penalty of five to twenty years in prison. The indictment comes in the context of Trump's broader effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. As of June 2024, it is one of three ongoing criminal indictments against Trump, although the proceedings have been indefinitely suspended.
The Defendants are variously charged with 40 additional counts from other allegations, including Trump and his co-defendants plotted to create pro-Trump slates of fake electors; Trump called the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, asking him to "find 11,780 votes", which would have reversed his loss in the state by a single vote margin; and a small group of Trump allies in Coffee County illegally accessed voting systems, attempting to find evidence of election fraud.
A grand jury handed up the indictments on August 14, 2023, following an investigation launched in February 2021 by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The case was set to be heard in the Fulton County Superior Court with Judge Scott F. McAfee presiding. Another judge denied requests from former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Department of Justice (DOJ) official Jeffrey Clark, and 3 other defendants to have their cases removed to the Federal Court. 4 defendants have pleaded guilty to some of the charges and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, and have received sentences that include probation, fines, and making public apologies. The date of the trial for the remaining 15 defendants (who pleaded not guilty) is not yet set. As of June 2024, the case is "paused" while the Georgia Court of Appeals decides whether to disqualify Fani Willis.
The Indictment
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A grand jury indicted Trump and 18 other defendants on August 14, 2023. The indictment mentions 30 unindicted co-conspirators.
Charges:
The original criminal charges fell into several clusters:
- Violation of the Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act. This is a single blanket charge accusing all 19 defendants of engaging in a criminal enterprise to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election by obstructing the casting and counting of Georgia's electoral votes. 161 individual acts are listed in support of the criminal enterprise. RICO charges allow the court to consider evidence of alleged acts in other states.
- Solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer and false statements and writings to public officials. These charges relate to false assertions about purported election fraud. Most of these charges allege acts targeted at members of the Georgia General Assembly: seven at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, two at a House Governmental Affairs Committee meeting, one to the Speaker of the House, and one for the attempt to have the Jeffrey Clark letter approved by U.S. Department of Justice officials. Four were targeted at Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff, covering the Trump–Raffensperger phone call and another communication in September 2021. (The solicitation charges were dismissed by the judge in March 2024).
- Impersonating a public officer, forgery in the first degree, filing false documents and attempting to commit this, and false statements and writings in documents. These charges relate to fake electors purporting to be true electors and creating and distributing two false documents: the certificate of ascertainment and its cover letter. There is also one charge for a filing in the federal case Trump v. Kemp. Fake electors and the federal case filers were charged with the underlying crimes, while others were charged with conspiracy to commit them.
- Perjury and false statements and writings to investigators. One charge for lying under oath to the Fulton County special-purpose grand jury, and one for lying to investigators with the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.
- Conspiracy to commit election fraud, computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, and to defraud the state. These charges relate to a breach of voting equipment in Coffee County, Georgia.
- Influencing witnesses and attempts to commit this, and conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings. These charges relate to an attempt to harass and influence Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman.
However, on March 13, 2024, Judge McAfee quashed all six of these charges. He said that their "lack of detail" failed to "give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently" but that prosecutors could seek a new indictment on those charges if they presented more detail.
The Trials
Hall, Powell, Chesebro, and Ellis will not be tried because they have pleaded guilty.
The trial for the 15 remaining defendants will not be scheduled until the court decides whether to remove Fani Willis from the case. The oral arguments regarding Fani Willis will be held on October 4, 2024.
IMPORTANT
Trump may have to stand trial in Georgia while he is a sitting President (if he is elected in November), as there is no precedent suggesting otherwise.
Date and Duration:
On August 16, 2023, Willis motioned for all defendants to be tried together beginning March 4, 2024. The filing said that the schedule had been chosen so as not only to conflict with Trump's already-scheduled court dates in other matters, "but also to protect the State of Georgia's and the public's interest in a prompt resolution of the charges". The requested trial date was nearly two months into the 2024 Republican Party presidential primary season and one day before Super Tuesday. Former U.S. Attorney for Georgia Michael J. Moore expressed doubt that the motions and discovery process would be completed so quickly and that Willis actually believed the case would be ready by March. "I think it's just a PR move", he said.
In early September, while discussing whether all defendants could be tried together on the expedited date given to Chesebro and Powell, prosecutors estimated that a 19-defendant proceeding would involve a lengthy jury selection, followed by a 4-month trial that called 150 witnesses. Judge McAfee responded that he expected such a trial would take longer, and later confirmed that the other defendants would not share Chesebro and Powell's trial date.
Chesebro and Powell had been scheduled to be tried on October 23, and Judge McAfee had ordered that hundreds of potential jurors should appear beginning on October 20, but both the defendants pleaded "guilty", shortly before the juror selection began.
In November 2023, Willis proposed starting the trial on August 5, 2024, expecting that it might continue into early 2025; she anticipated that "defendant Trump's other criminal trials" might delay his case, but acknowledged that other defendants have a right to a "speedy trial". Specifically, Trump was expected to (and did) appeal his federal election obstruction trial, which at the time was scheduled for March 2024. It was further expected that this appeal of the federal case might delay the trials in New York and Florida, set for March and May respectively. Those cases were delayed though, for other reasons. The New York trial was only briefly delayed and was concluded on May 30.
In January 2024, because Shawn Still was serving in the Georgia General Assembly, he was given extra time for pretrial filings. He filed 6 motions and had a hearing in May.
Procedures and Potential Witnesses:
Unlike the proceedings in Trump's other three indictments where photography was not permitted, the Georgia proceedings were livestreamed on YouTube, and the journalists were allowed to use their phones in the courtroom. However, the juries remained anonymous at least until the end of the trial and they had security.
During Chesebro and Powell's trial preparation, the prosecutors had filed to seek testimony from Boris Epshteyn, Lin Wood, several GOP officials in other states, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (whose attorney said he would plead the Fifth), and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in December 2023 that the prosecution's nearly 200-person witness list included former Vice President Mike Pence, former Attorney General Bill Barr, former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue, Congressman Scott Perry and former Trump Advisor Steve Bannon.
Reactions
U.S. House Republicans opened an investigation into Willis hours before Trump surrendered for arrest. Congressman Jim Jordan wrote her asking if she had coordinated with the Smith special counsel investigation or used federal money in her investigation. Jordan demanded Willis provide documents and communications by September 7. Willis wrote to Jordan on September 7 that his letter contained "inaccurate information and misleading statements", alleging he was seeking to "obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous misrepresentations" without constitutional authority, for his personal political gain.
Some Georgia Republican legislators, notably state senator Colton Moore, proposed convening a special legislative session to consider impeaching Willis. Such a move would require the consent of Democrats and Republican governor Brian Kemp said he opposed it to prevent "political theater that only inflames the emotions of the moment" and "some grifter scam" to raise campaign contributions for Moore.
In May 2023, Georgia Republicans enacted a law that created a commission empowered to discipline or remove state prosecutors who were alleged to have violated their duties. As he signed the bill creating the commission, Governor Kemp said it would curb "far-left prosecutors" who are "making our communities less safe". Days after the Willis indictments, state senator Chad Dixon announced he would file a complaint against Willis when the commission commenced in October, alleging she had weaponized the justice system against political opponents with an "unabashed goal to become some sort of leftist celebrity". Hours after the commission became effective on October 1, eight Republican Georgia senators filed a complaint seeking to have Willis sanctioned for her alleged "improperly cherry-picked cases to further her personal political agenda".
On September 14, 2023, one of the defendants, Jenna Ellis, said she would not support Trump for office again because he does not accept responsibility for his wrongdoings.
On September 15, 2023, a three-judge panel ruled that the charges against Shawn, still would not automatically deprive him of his state senate seat.
(3) Indictment number 3 - Election Obstruction case:
Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (Election obstruction case)
United States of America v. Donald J. Trump is a pending federal criminal case against Donald Trump, the president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, regarding his alleged participation in attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election, including his involvement in the January 6 Capitol Hill Attack.
Case Details
Full case name:
"United States of America Versus Donald J Trump"
Charges:
Conspiracy to defraud the United States;
Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding;
Obstruction of/an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding;
Judge sitting:
Tanya S. Chutkan (District Judge).
________
Trump has pleaded 'not guilty' for having directly attempted to overturn the results of the election through a plot in which pro-Trump slates of fake electors would be created. He had earlier questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election, claiming that election fraud had occurred through mail-in ballots, voting machine irregularities, "dead voters", and other irregularities. He pressurised the then-Vice President Mike Pence to count the fake electors instead of the electors, certified by state legislators. The Department of Justice opened an investigation in January 2022 into the plot, expanding it to encompass January 6. In November 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith to lead a special counsel investigation, encompassing the investigations into attempts to overturn the election and Trump's handling of government documents.
On August 1, 2023, a grand jury indicted Trump in the District of Columbia U.S. District Court on four charges for his conduct following the 2020 presidential election through the January 6 Capitol attack: conspiracy to defraud the United States under Title 18 of the United States Code, obstructing an official proceeding and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding under the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, and conspiracy against rights under the Enforcement Act of 1870. The indictment mentioned six unnamed co-conspirators. It is Trump's third indictment and the first indictment against a U.S. president concerning actions while in office. Trump appeared at an arraignment on August 3, where he pleaded not guilty. The charge with the longest sentence carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.
On February 2, 2024, Judge Tanya Chutkan said she would not schedule a trial until the DC Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether Trump is immune from prosecution. On February 6, a panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Trump is not immune. The case was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on April 25, 2024, and ruled on July 1 that former Presidents have "some immunity from criminal prosecution" for their "official acts" made during their presidency.
Indictment and Arraignment:
The indictment was unsealed on August 1, 2023. A grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia indicted Trump on four charges: conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstructing an official proceeding, conspiring to do so, and conspiracy against rights. D.C. district judge Tanya S. Chutkan was randomly assigned to hear the case.
According to the indictment, on December 8, 2020, a senior campaign advisor admitted that "our research and campaign legal team can't back up any of the claims ... It's tough to own any of this when it's all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership." On January 1, Trump learned that Mike Pence did not believe the vice president could reject electoral votes. Trump called Pence and told him, "You're too honest." On January 3, it is alleged that White House deputy counsel Patrick F. Philbin privately said that if Trump held onto power, there would be "riots in every major city in the United States", to which "Co-conspirator No. 4" (likely Jeffrey Clark) replied "That's why there's an Insurrection Act", implying that Trump could command the military to keep himself in power. The indictment also described a previously unreported discussion between Trump and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, in which Cipollone advised Trump, hours after the Capitol riot started, to drop his objections to the election. Trump refused to do that.
Trump appeared before magistrate judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington, D.C., on August 3. Smith was present at the arraignment, as were Trump's lawyer Evan Corcoran, and Chief Judge James Boasberg. In the courtroom, Trump was joined by lawyers Todd Blanche and John Lauro; prosecutors Thomas Windom and Molly Gaston were joined by a special agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Trump pleaded not guilty to each count, and prosecutors confirmed they would not seek pre-trial detention.
Co-conspirators:
The indictment references six co-conspirators. Although they were not named in the indictment, news agencies reported their likely identities based on public information. The indictment does not charge them.
- Co-conspirator No. 1: Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as confirmed by his lawyer, Robert Costello, who claimed the indictment "eviscerates the First Amendment".
- Co-conspirator No. 2: Trump's lawyer John Eastman, as confirmed by his lawyer, Harvey Silverglate, who claimed that Eastman would be exonerated.
- Co-conspirator No. 3: Trump's lawyer Sidney Powell. CNN noted that the dates of a "lawsuit against the Governor of Georgia" mentioned in the indictment align with a lawsuit filed by Powell. On October 19, Powell pleaded guilty in the Georgia election racketeering prosecution (in which Trump is named as a co-defendant) in an agreement with prosecutors to testify against other defendants in future trials.
- Co-conspirator No. 4: Trump lawyer Jeffrey Clark. CNN matched quotes from an email in the indictment with quotes from a Senate report.
- Co-conspirator No. 5: Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro. CNN referred to information released by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. On October 20, Chesebro pleaded guilty in the Georgia election racketeering prosecution in exchange for testimony at future trials.
- Co-conspirator No. 6: A "political consultant" who allegedly named attorneys in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin "who could assist in the fraudulent elector effort". On December 13, 2020, this person joined a phone call with Rudy Giuliani and a senior campaign advisor for Trump.
Prosecution
On October 24, ABC News and The Guardian reported that anonymous sources have stated that Trump administration White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has received legal immunity from Jack Smith in exchange for testimony under oath and has testified before the grand jury. The next day, CBS News reported that anonymous sources had stated that Meadows is cooperating with prosecutors and has testified before the grand jury but did not state that Meadows has received legal immunity, while Meadows' attorney stated to CBS News that the ABC News report was "largely inaccurate". In their October 25 reply to the gag order stay ruling, the prosecution did not address the veracity of the ABC News report and referred to Trump's October 24 Truth Social post about the news report as "an unmistakable and threatening message to a foreseeable witness in this case.
On December 5, 2023, the government alleged in a court filing that Trump had "sent" his supporters to the Capitol. The government said it would submit evidence to demonstrate Trump's "post-conspiracy embrace of particularly violent and notorious rioters", indicating his "motive and intent".
In a December 5 court filing, Smith prosecutors asserted they had evidence in election day text messages between a Trump campaign employee, who is an unindicted co-conspirator in the case, and a campaign attorney in Detroit. Prosecutors asserted that Trump and his co-conspirators knew Biden was taking the lead in Michigan results and sought to subvert them, with the campaign employee encouraging "rioting and other methods of obstruction". Prosecutors alleged that at the time of the text messages, "a large number of untrained individuals flooded the Detroit [ballot counting facility] and began making illegitimate and aggressive challenges to the vote count."
On December 11, the special counsel filed a brief indicating he would present an expert witness at trial who had extracted and examined data from Trump's phone from the weeks while he attempted to subvert the election. The data had been obtained from Twitter under a January 2023 search warrant.
Defense
During "full Ginsburg" interviews on August 7, 2023, new Trump attorney John Lauro asserted "a technical violation of the Constitution is not a violation of criminal law" so it was "just plain wrong" that Trump had pressured Pence to violate the law. Pence had said four days earlier that Trump and his advisers had pressured him "essentially to overturn the election".
In two court filings in late November 2023, Trump's lawyers presented possible defenses. They blamed foreign governments, arguing that "President Trump and others acted in good faith" based on falsehoods in "covert foreign disinformation campaigns relating to the 2020 election". They asked the court to consider the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., as well as other agencies, as part of the prosecution team. (Doing so would slow down the case by requiring those agencies to submit information to the court and portray the indictment as politically motivated.) Trump's team further complained that some witnesses for the prosecution may have anti-Trump "political bias".
REACTIONS:
The Trump campaign responded to the indictment with a press release, accusing President Joe Biden of political persecution and claiming that it was election interference. The Trump campaign issued a statement calling the indictment "reminiscent of Nazi Germany".
Republicans in support of the indictment
- Mike Pence, who was Trump's vice president and, at the time, was also running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, issued a statement strongly condemning Trump, stating that this indictment was "an important reminder [that] anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States". In an interview with reporters at the Indiana State Fair the next day, he expanded on his comments, stating that he could not have overturned the election results as Vice President.
- Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr said the case against Trump was legitimate and that he will testify if he is called.
- Adam Kinzinger, a member of the January 6 Committee and a former Illinois representative, tweeted that "Today is the beginning of justice" and added that Trump is "a cancer on our democracy".
- Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was running for the 2024 presidential Republican nomination at the time, said Trump "swore an oath to the Constitution, violated his oath & brought shame to his presidency."
- Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who was running for the 2024 presidential Republican nomination at the time, said "Trump has disqualified himself from ever holding our nation's highest office again."
- On August 14, 2023, nearly a dozen former judges and federal legal officials, all appointed by Republicans, submitted an amicus brief saying they agreed with Jack Smith's proposed trial date of January 2, 2024. The brief states "There is no more important issue facing America and the American people—and to the very functioning of democracy—than whether the former president is guilty of criminally undermining America's elections and American democracy to remain in power."
Republicans opposed to the indictment
- Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida who was also running for the 2024 presidential Republican nomination, tweeted that he would "end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans" if elected. He also voiced agreement with the defendant's claim that the charges were politically motivated. In addition, DeSantis has previously expressed his intention to pardon Trump if he were to win the presidency.
- Then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy wrote on Twitter that House Republicans would "continue to uncover the truth about Biden Inc. and the two-tiered system of justice."
- With a looming September 30 deadline to fund the government for the coming fiscal year starting October 1, some House Republicans had proposed leveraging their power of the purse to try to stop the federal and state prosecutions of Trump, though a federal shutdown would not affect the prosecutions.
Democrats in support of the indictment
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a joint statement with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said "No one is above the law – including Donald Trump".
- House members Nancy Pelosi, Joaquin Castro, and Rashida Tlaib also came out in support of the indictment.
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- Forthcoming schedule (timeline) of legal proceedings against Trump:
- Former President Donald Trump is fighting a litany of criminal and civil cases in multiple states, leaving him with a busy court schedule in the coming months—and while he awaits sentencing in one case, several others aren't expected to go to trial until after the election.
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