Former US President Donald Trump was indicted yesterday for the third time. This is considered, so far, the most important process against the republican. This is because these are accusations related to attempts to reverse the results of the polls in 2020.
A grand jury in Washington found on Tuesday that the US Department of Justice has enough evidence to open a case against the former president. The Department charges Trump with 4 different federal crimes:
- Conspiracy to defraud the United States
- Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding
- Obstruction or attempted obstruction of official procedure
- Conspiracy against rights
The investigation looked into the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the actions of the former president that encouraged the attack. According to the indictment, Trump “was determined to remain in power” even after his 2020 election defeat.
The indictment also states that Trump knew that the election fraud accusations were a lie, but nevertheless spread them “to create an intense atmosphere of distrust and anger and, thus, to erode public confidence in the conduct of the elections”, says the document. of 45 pages.
In addition to Donald Trump, six other co-conspirators are named in the document without having their names revealed. This is because they have not been indicted, at least until now. Among them, according to the evidence presented, is Trump’s former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The indictment claims that the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was engineered by Trump to prevent the official result of the 2020 election. The document also says that the former president lied to supporters to make them believe that Mike Pence, then vice-president and responsible for officializing, could change the outcome of the elections.
Based on the 14th amendment to the constitution, Donald Trump could be barred from taking office – if elected next year – if he is convicted of inciting an insurrection against the United States.
The 5 central points of the accusation
1- Trump would have pressured legislators and officials to change votes after Biden’s victory;
2- Trump would have recruited fake delegates in pendulum states, those where the dispute is fiercer, with the aim of disturbing the certification of elections;
3- The then president would have tried to use the power of the Department of Justice to give gas to his conspiracy theories about generalized electoral fraud;
4- Trump reportedly pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to delay certifying the election result;
5-The former president would have taken advantage of the chaos generated by the invasion of the Capitol to redouble efforts to reverse the result of the polls.
Donald Trump is due to surrender to Washington justice on Thursday (03). It is not yet known whether the former president will have to attend the court in person or whether he will be able to do so virtually.
A tough week for Donald Trump
The week began with a losing streak for former President Donald Trump. In the secret documents case, for which he was indicted in June, the administrator of Mar-A-Lago, Carlos de Oliveira, was accused of trying to erase footage from security cameras to obstruct a federal investigation. The official testified Monday in a Miami courthouse.
In another defeat, a judge in Georgia denied Trump’s request to disqualify Attorney Fani Willis, who is responsible for investigating his attempts to interfere in the state. This could be, still in August, Trump’s 4th indictment.
The investigation began with the release of a call in which the then president pressured the Georgia Secretary of State, also a Republican, to find votes in his favor. The goal would be to reverse the result in Georgia, which by less than 12 thousand votes gave its 16 delegates to Joe Biden.
Also, Trump had his lawsuit against the CNN denied by a federal judge in Florida. He asked the channel for damages of US$ 475 million (R$ 2.3 billion), claiming that the station defamed him by using the term “big lie” to refer to his conspiracy theories of electoral fraud. The judge considered that the station was protected by the right to freedom of expression.
Trump continues to claim, without evidence, that the 2020 election was rigged.
Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
