Donald Trump for years has promoted baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. In truth, Trump was the one who tried to steal the election, federal prosecutors said Tuesday in a sprawling indictment that paints the former president as desperate to cling to power.
The Justice Department indictment accuses Trump of conspiring with allies and concocting various schemes in a brazen attempt to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden as his legal challenges floundered in court.
The charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution team are built around the words of Trump’s advisers, White House lawyers, and others in his inner circle who repeatedly told him there was no fraud.
It’s the third time this year Trump has been charged in a criminal case. But it’s the first case to try to hold Trump responsible for his efforts to remain in power during the chaotic weeks between his election loss and the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump has said he did nothing wrong, and has accused Smith and the Justice Department of trying to harm his 2024 campaign.
Here’s a look at the charges Trump faces and other key issues in the indictment.