ABOVE: Watch CBN News Chief Political Analyst David Brody Explain the Implications of the New Trump Indictment
Former President Donald Trump is now facing a third criminal indictment. A grand jury commissioned by the Biden Justice Department has indicted Trump, the leading presidential candidate in the 2024 campaign, on charges of conspiracy and obstruction involving his actions to challenge the results of the 2020 elections.
His latest legal battle was revealed Tuesday afternoon when a Washington, D.C., grand jury decided to move forward with an indictment after spending months considering evidence of possible criminal actions by the then-president in the weeks after the 2020 election.
Special Counsel Jack Smith announced that Donald Trump is being indicted on four federal charges, saying he was "determined to remain in power".
"Since the attack on our Capitol, the Department of Justice has remained committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened that day," declared Smith in a press conference. "This case is brought consistent with that commitment."
The four counts include conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
"In this case, my office will seek a speedy trial so that our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens," continued Smith.
CBN News Chief Political Analyst David Brody says the indictment will only strengthen Trump among many Americans who lost faith in U.S. institutions like the Justice Department and the news media a long time ago. "Politically, this is a boon to him," Brody says. "The more indictments that President Trump gets...the closer Donald Trump is to becoming the next president of the United States." WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ABOVE.
The 45-page indictment accuses Trump of enlisting six unnamed co-conspirators "to assist him in his criminal efforts to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election" by creating "fraudulent slates of electors" in seven states. Prosecutors claim Trump knowingly repeated false claims of election fraud and made them appear legitimate, creating an "intense atmosphere of mistrust and anger," culminating in the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6th.
In a statement, Trump's campaign contends, "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."
Trump's attorney John Lauro went on CNN Tuesday night to defend Trump's right to free speech.
"We've never had a situation where a spirited debate about the Constitution has become a criminal case," Lauro said. "What's going to happen when there's a Republican administration, is there going to be an effort to criminalize speech by Democrats?"
"If we're going to have a situation where the Department of Justice is going to fact-check politicians and indict politicians for political speech, whether or not they're factually accurate, then this country will shut down politically because it's a never-ending cycle of tit for tat, and that's the risk of injecting politics into the criminal justice system," continued Lauro.
The indictment also includes notes from former Vice President Mike Pence's phone calls with Trump where he requested his VP reject electoral votes on January 6th. Pence, who's now running against Trump, said in a statement, "anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States."
In a post on Twitter, now known as "X," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's strongest rival for the Republican nomination, said the indictment shows the power of the federal government is being politicized.
"One of the reasons our country is in decline is the politicization of the rule of law," wrote DeSantis. "No more excuses—I will end the weaponization of the federal government."
A post on President Trump's social media site stated, "Why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump's winning campaign for 2024? Why was it announced the day after the big Crooked Joe Biden scandal broke out from the Halls of Congress? The answer is, election interference!"
Trump will return to D.C. Thursday for his arraignment at a federal courthouse. The judge assigned to Trump's case, Judge Tanya Chutkan, has handed out two of the longest prison sentences for Capitol rioters thus far.
Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley said on Fox News's The Five that he didn't see anything particularly new in the indictments and cautioned that the prosecutor runs the risk of defending the criminalization of differences of opinion among the president's attorneys.
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