A Reminder: 8 Things To Know About The U.S. v. Trump Indictment
Some Supreme Court Justices have slow walked a decision in United States v. Trump to the point where it is virtually guaranteed that former President Donald Trump’s trial for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election will not be held before the November election.
The Supreme Court case, first raised for consideration with the Court six months ago, deals with Trump’s claim of absolute immunity for actions taken while President.
This slow walking has achieved Trump’s primary goal — if he wins in November, he will dodge any potential accountability by having the Justice Department drop the case.
The delay also will deny voters essential information before they vote — whether or not Trump has been convicted of multiple felonies for interfering with the 2020 presidential election.
There have been stories in past months about a spreading “collective amnesia” in our country, clouding the memory of the events following the 2020 election and of the violent Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The Court is, finally, expected to issue an opinion in this case tomorrow or Monday. Here’s a reminder of what the Trump indictment alleges.
Former President Donald Trump was indicted by a Grand Jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on August 1, 2023.
According to the indictment, Trump “pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the [2020 presidential] election results. In so doing, the Defendant perpetrated three criminal conspiracies.” They are:
1. “A conspiracy to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government.”
2. “A conspiracy to corruptly obstruct and impede the January 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified.”
3. “A conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.”
According to the indictment:
1. Former President Trump knew he lost the 2020 election and proceeded with an illegal attempt to hold onto power through a comprehensive criminal conspiracy that attempted to manipulate every step of the process for certifying electoral votes.
“Shortly after election day — which fell on November 3, 2020 — the Defendant launched his criminal scheme.” (page 9)
2. Trump and his team used deceit to pressure state officials to overturn the legitimate results of the election in their states by certifying Trump’s electors.
“[T]he Defendant and his co-conspirators executed a strategy to use knowing deceit in the targeted states to impair, obstruct, and defeat the federal government function.” (page 9)
3. Trump and his team organized fraudulent slates of electors to transmit false certificates to Congress.
Trump and his co-conspirators developed a plan “to marshal individuals who would have served as the Defendant’s electors, had he won the popular vote, in seven targeted states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — and cause those individuals to make and send to the Vice President and Congress false certifications that they were legitimate electors.” (page 21)
4. Trump pressured then-Vice President Pence to stop Congress from counting the electoral votes confirming Biden’s victory.
Trump knowingly used “false claims of election fraud to convince the Vice President to accept the Defendant’s fraudulent electors. […] When that failed, the Defendant attempted to use a crowd of supporters that he had gathered in Washington, D.C., to pressure the Vice President to fraudulently alter the election results.” (page 32)
5. Trump and his allies exploited the violence at the Capitol after Pence refused to interfere with the electoral count.
“We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” — Trump to supporters at his Jan. 6 rally. “During and after his remarks, thousands of people marched toward the Capitol.” (page 39)
6. According to Count One in the indictment, Trump engaged in conspiracy to defraud the United States, violating 18U.S.C. § 371 by dishonestly obstructing the lawful electoral count on January 6, 2021. (pages 3–42)
7. According to Counts Two and Three in the indictment, Trump conspired and attempted to obstruct an official proceeding — Congress’s count of the electoral votes mandated by the Constitution, violating 18 U.S.C. § 1512. (pages 43–44)
8. According to Count Four in the indictment, Trump conspired to deprive Americans of their fundamental constitutional rights to vote and to have their votes counted, violating 18 U.S.C. § 241. (page 45)
The Trump indictment alleges an unprecedented attack on our electoral system and our democracy. The Supreme Court Justices who have slow walked United States v. Trump have done a grave disservice to our nation.
Read the full Democracy 21 analysis of the Trump indictment from August 2023.
This was adapted from a piece that appeared in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter that’s published on Thursdays. Read this week’s and recent newsletters here. And, subscribe for free here to receive your copy each week via email.
