A third indictment was filed against former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, revealing four new criminal charges tied to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US election.
The former president faces charges which include: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and a conspiracy against rights.
"Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power," the indictment said on Tuesday.
"So for more than two months following Election Day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false."
The indictment lists six unnamed co-conspirators, including some attorneys and a Justice Department official who are alleged to have "enlisted" to assist Trump in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and remain in power.
Those co-conspirators allegedly "pushed officials to ignore the popular vote" and organize "fraudulent slates of electors" in the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, per the indictment.
"Trump, did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the grand jury, to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate one or more persons in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right and privilege secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States — that is, the right to vote, and to have one's vote counted," the indictment reads.
No charges were brought against those six unnamed persons, and Smith declined to answer a reporter on Tuesday when asked why they were not charged.
Moments after the filing was made public, special counsel Jack Smith told reporters at a Tuesday conference that the Capitol riot events proved an "unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy."
"As [described] in the indictment, it was fueled by lies," he said. "Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the US government and the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election."
"The men and women of law enforcement who defended the US Capitol on January 6 are heroes, they are patriots and they are the very best of us. They did not just defend a building or the people sheltering in it. They put their lives on the line to defend who we are as a country and as a people," Smith continued.
"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. This case is brought consistent with that commitment, and our investigation of other individuals continues. 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."
Smith concluded by emphasizing the indictment is "only an allegation," and that the defendant must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
A summons issued to Trump has since detailed the former president is scheduled to appear in court in Washington, DC, on Thursday. It remains unclear whether the appearance will be done in person or through video.
Trump has repeatedly condemned indictments and legal efforts filed against him. Just before news broke on the latest move by the special counsel, Trump blasted the filing as yet another add-on to efforts to crush his 2024 reelection campaign and labeled it "prosecutorial misconduct."
A separate statement issued by the Trump campaign referred to the filing as part of "un-American witch hunts" and the "latest chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice."
Trump first announced on July 18 that he received a letter from Smith, notifying him that he was the target in a grand jury probe related to the January 6 attacks on Capitol Hill. Earlier Tuesday, members of the grand jury were reported to have met at the courthouse in Washington, DC.
News of the indictment comes just a day after a judge in Fulton County, Georgia, rejected efforts made by Trump's legal team to toss out evidence in an ongoing criminal probe alleging interference in the 2020 election results in the Peach State.