What Makes This Latest Indictment The Hot Oil That Could Fry Trump

1 big thing: "Fueled by lies"

Today's historic, four-count indictment against former President Trump begins with a simple but devastating statement of facts at the heart of the case prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith: The defendant, DONALD J. TRUMP, was the forty-fifth President of the United States and a candidate for re-election in 2020. The Defendant lost the 2020 presidential election. Why it matters: The 45-page indictment — the third brought against Trump in just over four months — goes on to detail a sweeping, multi-pronged scheme by the former president to cling to power through claims of election fraud he knew were false. "The attack on our nation's Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy," Smith said in a brief statement to the public after the charges were unsealed. "As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant." Smith announces Trump's indictment. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Driving the news: The indictment alleges that beginning shortly after Election Day, Trump perpetrated three criminal conspiracies as he sought to discount legitimate votes and reverse President Biden's victory: Conspiracy to defraud the United States by using "dishonesty, fraud and deceit" to obstruct the counting, collection and certification of election results. Conspiracy to obstruct the Jan. 6 certification of the electoral vote. Conspiracy to "injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate" Americans in the free exercise of their right to vote and to have their votes counted. Trump was also charged with obstruction of an official proceeding for his alleged "exploitation of the violence and chaos at the Capitol" on Jan. 6. Between the lines: The indictment breaks down Trump's alleged plot to overturn the election into five categories: Pressuring state legislators and election officials to subvert the election results with knowingly false claims of fraud. Organizing fraudulent slates of electors in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Attempting to use the authority of the Justice Department to conduct "sham election crime investigations" and send letters to battleground states claiming to have identified significant fraud concerns. Attempting to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to use his ceremonial role counting the electoral votes on Jan. 6 to obstruct certification of Biden's victory. Exploiting the violence and chaos on Jan. 6 to convince members of Congress to further delay certification. Zoom in: The indictment alleges that when Pence told Trump on Jan. 1 that he had no constitutional authority to reject electors, the then-president replied: "You're too honest." The bottom line: Americans may be numb at this point to the seemingly never-ending legal troubles afflicting Trump, who polling shows is running competitively with Biden in a hypothetical 2024 rematch. But unlike Trump's alleged hush money payments and retention of classified documents, this latest indictment strikes at the heart of American democracy — and of the next election. Many of the allegations also took place in full public view. Read the full indictment.

2. ⚖️ The alleged co-conspirators

Rudy Giuliani leaves federal court in D.C. on May 19. Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

 

The indictment alleges Trump enlisted six alleged co-conspirators — not named in the document and not indicted — in his criminal efforts to overturn the election.

Based on public reporting, they appear to be: 

• Co-conspirator 1: Rudy Giuliani, an attorney who knowingly spread false claims and pursued strategies that official Trump campaign lawyers would not.
• Co-conspirator 2: John Eastman, an attorney who sought to use Pence's ceremonial role counting the electoral votes to obstruct certification on Jan. 6.
• Co-conspirator 3: Sidney Powell, an attorney whose unfounded claims of election fraud Trump embraced, while privately acknowledging they sounded "crazy."
• Co-conspirator 4: Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official who sought to use DOJ to open sham investigations and pressure state legislatures.
• Co-conspirator 5: Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who helped devise and attempt the plan to submit fraudulent pro-Trump slates of electors to Congress.
• Co-conspirator 6: An unknown political consultant who helped implement the fake elector scheme.

What to watch: "Our investigation of other individuals continues," Smith said in his statement.

     3. What Trump knew

Via X. Go deeper.

The indictment devotes nearly three pages to recounting the many advisers and entities who told Trump that his election fraud claims were false, including:

• Pence, who "personally stood to gain by remaining in office" as part of Trump's ticket.
• Senior DOJ leaders appointed by Trump to investigate fraud.
• Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who disabused Trump of the notion that findings regarding foreign interference would change the outcome.
• The Department of Homeland Security's cyber chief Chris Krebs, whom Trump fired after he called the 2020 election "the most secure in history."
• Senior White House attorneys.
• Senior Trump campaign officials.
• State legislators and officials who supported Trump.
• State and federal courts.

Why it matters: "I would like [prosecutors] to try to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Donald Trump believed that these allegations were false," Trump lawyer John Lauto told Fox News tonight.