All charges Trump faces and what happens next including effect on president bid
Former President Donald Trump has been charged with attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election - but what happens next?
Following an investigation into the riots at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump was hit with an indictment that claims the then-president allegedly tried to get election officials in seven states to “subvert the legitimate election results and change electoral votes."
Trump is alleged to have been engaged in a "conspiracy to defraud the United States" by using "dishonesty, fraud and deceit."
Special Counsel Jack Smith, in charge of the investigation into Trump, said: "The attack on our nation's capital on January 6 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.
"As described in the indictment it was fuelled by lies."
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Trump, due to be arrested by the FBI, branded the charges "ridiculous" and denies them. In response to the indictment, the Trump team put out a bizarre statement, comparing his treatment to Nazi Germany.
Trump denies the charges (zz/John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx)The unhinged rant read: "The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes. President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys."
The charges add to Trump's legal woes and it is the third criminal indictment issued against him this year.
"Contemporaneous notes" from Mr Pence were cited by prosecutors (CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)State prosecutors in Georgia are investigating if Trump pressured state officials to throw out President Joe Biden's victory, while there are charges against him in New York City alleging he is responsible for falsifying business records in regards to hush money payment paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump has also denied 37 counts of illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing the US government’s efforts to get them back. The 37 charges against him include 31 alleged violations of the Espionage Act. He entered a not-guilty plea in a Miami federal court in June.
The 45th president faces four new charges under the latest indictment, so what are they?
The charges against Donald Trump
The charges against Trump in the latest indictment against him are as follows:
- Conspiracy to defraud the United States
- Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding
- Obstruction of an official proceeding
- Conspiracy against rights
The indictment lays out a web of alleged conspiracy involving Trump and six 'co-conspirators' there "to assist him in his criminal efforts."
Rudy Giuliani appears to be one of the co-conspirators in the indictment (AFP via Getty Images)The co-conspirators are unnamed in the document, but details in the indictment match the actions of some of Trump's aides including lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Ken Chesebro and former Justice Department (DoJ) official Jeffrey Clark.
Their alleged actions involve attempts to putting together fake slates of electors in an attempt to get election officials and state legislators to undermine the results.
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“Co-Conspirator 6” is a political consultant who also assisted with the fake electors plan and currently remains unknown.
No known charges have been brought against the listed co-conspirators.
It is claimed Trump and the co-conspirators organised "fraudulent slates of electors in seven targeted states."
The charges add to Trump's legal woes (zz/Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx)The states in which Trump is alleged to have done this are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The indictment read that fraudulent electors were there in an attempt to "mimic the procedures that the legitimate electors were supposed to follow."
Some, it is alleged, were "tricked" into taking part after they were told certificates they were signing that said Trump won the election would only be used if the court cases regarding the election results went in favour of the 45th president.
An attempt was made to dupe Vice President Mike Pence with fake electors to reject the election results. Mr Pence was due to perform a ceremonial role to certify the election in Congress on January 6.
When he refused, Trump supporters were told Mr Pence had the authority to overturn the results, the indictment said. Trump and the co-conspirators also continued to spout falsehoods regarding election fraud as a crowd attacked the Capitol.
The January 6 riots were deadly (AFP via Getty Images)“As violence ensued, the Defendant and co-conspirators exploited the disruption by redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince Members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims,” the indictment says.
Mr Pence went on to slam his former boss Donald Trump in the wake of the indictment.
In a statement released after the announcement Pence said: "Our country is more important than one man. Our constitution is more important than any one man's career."
"Contemporaneous notes" from Mr Pence were cited by prosecutors and the indictment lists several conversations between the former president and vice president. In one call on January 1, Trump supposedly told Mr Pence, “You’re too honest,” according to the indictment.
The indictment says Trump continues to spout election lies even as rioters stormed the Capitol (zz/STRF/STAR MAX/IPx)The charges also said Trump and the co-conspirators tried to use the Justice Department to conduct a "sham election crime investigation" and then sent a letter to the relevant states that said the DoJ had found concerning evidence.
What happens next?
Mr Smith has said he hopes for a "speedy trial" and that Trump "must be assumed innocent until proven guilty". The former president is due to appear in a Washington DC court on Thursday.
But Trump remains in prime position to become the Republican party candidate for the presidency in 2024. He would not be barred from running or becoming the next president if he is convicted. If he were to win the next election, he would be able to grant himself a pardon before the trial takes place.
He denied all charges and thanked his supporters in the wake of the indictment.
On his Truth Social media platform, he said: "Thank you to everyone! I Have never had so much support on anything before. This unprecedented indictment of a former (highly successful!) president [and] the leading candidate, by far, in both the Republican Party and the 2024 presidential election has awoken the world to the corruption, scandal [and] failure that has taken place in the United States in the past three years.
"America is a nation in decline, but we will make it great again, greater than ever before. I love you all!"
The obstruction charge against Trump carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Over 100 people have pleaded guilty or been convicted of this change in relation to the January 6 riot.
The conspiracy against rights charge, meanwhile, carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and dates back to a post-Civil War law designed to stop racists from stopping black voters from casting their ballot.
The count one charge, conspiracy to defraud the United States, is punishable by up to five years in prison.
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