Donald Trump was charged on Tuesday 1er August, for his attempts to reverse the result of the 2020 presidential election, the most serious charge to be brought against the ex-president who has already been criminally prosecuted on two counts.
The big favorite in the Republican primaries for the 2024 election is charged with “conspiracy against the American state”obstruction of due process and violation of electoral rights after an investigation overseen by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, an expert in the fight against corruption.
“Despite his defeat, the accused was determined to stay in power. Therefore, for more than two months after the November 3, 2020 ballot, the accused spread lies that there had been fraud that altered the result and that he had in fact won”notes the indictment.
“These allegations were false and the defendant knew they were false.can we read there. But the defendant repeated them and disseminated them widely despite everything. » The special prosecutor says he wants a “trial without delay”.
Tuesday afternoon, shortly before the announcement, Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he expected an imminent indictment, accusing the special prosecutor of wanting to hinder his campaign for 2024.
“I’m told Jack Smith-the-crazy, for interfering in the 2024 presidential election, is going to issue a bogus new indictment of your favorite president – me – at 5pm”or 23 hours in France, he wrote. “Why didn’t they do it two and a half years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted it to happen right in my campaign”he added.
“Election rigged and stolen”
Donald Trump announced on July 18 that he had received a letter from the prosecutor informing him that he was personally targeted by the federal investigation into the assault on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. “Jack Smith, the crackpot attorney for Joe Biden’s Justice Department, sent a letter (…) indicating that I am the TARGET of the grand jury’s investigation into January 6″he wrote on his network, Truth Social.
The 2024 presidential candidate is already indicted in the White House confidential documents case and for suspicious payments to a former porn star.
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Donald Trump had written on Truth Social to have “the right to contest an election whose [il est] convinced she was tricked and robbed”. The billionaire also assured that he was targeted because of the upcoming presidential election.
In his text, the 77-year-old former president had described this investigation as ” witch hunt “again “election interference” and D’“political use” of Justice. “Nothing like this has ever happened in our country”he also estimated.
On January 6, 2021, thousands of supporters of Donald Trump had sown chaos and violence in the Capitol, in Washington, temple of American democracy, when elected officials certified the victory of his rival, Joe Biden, in the presidential election. of 2020.
“Failed in his duty as Commander-in-Chief”
Several thousand Donald Trump supporters who did not recognize Joe Biden’s victory had tried to prevent Congress from certifying the result of the November 2020 presidential election. More than 1,000 people have been indicted for their involvement in the assault, including members of far-right groups who have been convicted of seditious conspiracy.
The incidents came shortly after Donald Trump in a speech urged his supporters to “fight like the devils” For “prevent theft” of the presidential election.
Also listen January 6, 2021: the day American democracy faltered
A parliamentary commission, dissolved at the beginning of 2023 by the new Republican majority, had investigated the role of the former president that day. In high-profile hearings, this Democratic-majority panel claimed that it had whitewashed its supporters and “failed in his duty as commander-in-chief” during the assault.
In its final report, released in December 2022, the commission found that Donald Trump should never be able to hold new public office. Its members also recommended that criminal proceedings be launched against him by the federal courts, in particular for calling for insurrection.
This investigation is in addition to other legal proceedings initiated against Donald Trump, declared candidate for the presidential election of 2024 and current favorite in the race for the nomination of the Republican Party.
Jack Smith is also leading the investigation into the conditions under which Donald Trump kept confidential documents after leaving the White House in January 2021 and then tried to prevent the government from recovering these documents.