Donald Trump was indicted on four criminal counts on Tuesday, bringing the total number of charges against the former president to 75 across three separate indictments.
The 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner was reportedly indicted by a Washington, D.C., grand jury in connection with his actions after the 2020 election and the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when he allegedly urged his supporters to protest congressional certification of the Electoral College vote, according to CNN.
The indictment means Trump, 77, will be arrested and arraigned in the case.
In the months after the 2020 election, which saw unprecedented levels of mail-in voting due to COVID-19 lockdowns, Trump maintained that Biden’s win was marred by large-scale voter fraud and last-minute rule changes that confused the electoral process. He allegedly suggested that former Vice President Mike Pence should hold up congressional certification of the Electoral College vote due to these concerns.
Trump’s lawyers reportedly met with officials in the office of special counsel Jack Smith last Thursday. Prosecutors listened courteously, The New York Times reported.
Trump said that his lawyers had “a productive meeting” with the prosecutors, writing on his Truth Social account that they explained, “I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an indictment of me would only further destroy our country.”
Smith’s investigation has advanced on several fronts in recent months.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Smith looked into Trump’s alleged efforts to assemble alternate slates of electors, apply pressure to Pence and state officials, drive fundraising with claims of voter fraud, and rally his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights, per CNN.
“This is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed frontrunner, and leading by substantial margins,” Trump’s presidential campaign said in a statement, according to CNN.
“These un-American witch hunts will fail and President Trump will be re-elected to the White House so he can save our Country from the abuse, incompetence, and corruption that is running through the veins of our Country at levels never seen before,” the campaign said.
Trump faces criminal charges in two other cases as he prepares to face off against Biden again in the 2024 election.
Smith obtained a 31-count indictment in a Florida federal court that charged Trump with mishandling classified documents after he left office.
The former president was also indicted separately in New York on charges alleging he paid $130,000 in hush money to an adult film star during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The former commander-in-chief pleaded not guilty in both cases.
