Donald Trump charged by Justice Department for efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
Donald Trump was charged Tuesday in a Justice Department investigation into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, a frantic but ultimately failed endeavor that culminated in the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.
The indictment, the third criminal case brought against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024, follows a long-running federal investigation into schemes by Trump and his allies to subvert the peaceful transfer of power and keep him in office despite a decisive loss to Joe Biden.
The criminal case comes while Trump leads the field of Republicans vying to capture their party’s presidential nomination. It is sure to be dismissed by the former president and his supporters — and even some of his rivals — as just another politically motivated prosecution. Yet the charges stem from one of the most serious threats to American democracy in modern history.
They focus on the turbulent two months after the November 2020 election in which Trump refused to accept his loss and spread lies that victory was stolen from him. The turmoil resulted in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump loyalists violently broke into the building, attacked police officers and disrupted the congressional counting of electoral votes.
In between the election and the riot, Trump urged local election officials to undo voting results in their states, pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to halt the certification of electoral votes and falsely claimed that the election had been stolen — a notion repeatedly rejected by judges.
The indictment had been expected since Trump said in mid-July that the Justice Department informed him he was a target of its long-running Jan. 6 investigation. A bipartisan House committee that spent months investigating the run-up to the Capitol riot also recommended prosecuting Trump on charges, including aiding an insurrection and obstructing an official proceeding.
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Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Justice Department via Associated Press
Boxes of records are stored in a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., seen in this image contained in an indictment charging him with 37 felonies related to the mishandling of classified documents. The indictment paints an unmistakably damning portrait of Trump’s treatment of sensitive information, accusing him of willfully defying Justice Department demands to return documents he had taken from the White House, enlisting aides in his efforts to hide the records and even telling his lawyers he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored in his estate.
Justice Department via Associated Press
Boxes of records are stored in a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., seen in this image contained in an indictment charging him with 37 felonies related to the mishandling of classified documents. The indictment paints an unmistakably damning portrait of Trump’s treatment of sensitive information, accusing him of willfully defying Justice Department demands to return documents he had taken from the White House, enlisting aides in his efforts to hide the records and even telling his lawyers he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored in his estate.
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records on Dec. 7, 2021, in a storage room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., that had fallen over with contents spilling onto the floor. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to an indictment unsealed Friday, June 9, 2023.Â
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records on Dec. 7, 2021, in a storage room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., that had fallen over with contents spilling onto the floor. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to an indictment unsealed Friday, June 9, 2023.Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records being stored on the stage in the White and Gold Ballroom at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to an indictment unsealed Friday, June 9, 2023.Â
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records being stored on the stage in the White and Gold Ballroom at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to an indictment unsealed Friday, June 9, 2023.Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records that had been stored in the Lake Room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., after they were moved to a storage room on June 24, 2021. Â
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records that had been stored in the Lake Room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., after they were moved to a storage room on June 24, 2021. Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and partially redacted by the source, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8, 2022, FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Â
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and partially redacted by the source, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8, 2022, FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records that had been stored in the Lake Room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., after they were moved to a storage room on June 24, 2021. Â
Justice Department via Associated Press
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records that had been stored in the Lake Room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., after they were moved to a storage room on June 24, 2021. Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Justice Department via Associated Press
Boxes of records seen in a storage room at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., that were photographed on Nov. 12, 2021. Â
Justice Department via Associated Press
Boxes of records seen in a storage room at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., that were photographed on Nov. 12, 2021. Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
Pages from the affidavit by the FBI in support of obtaining a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate are photographed Aug. 26, 2022. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the Justice Department to make public a redacted version of the affidavit it relied on when federal agents searched Trump's estate to look for classified documents. Â
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
Pages from the affidavit by the FBI in support of obtaining a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate are photographed Aug. 26, 2022. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the Justice Department to make public a redacted version of the affidavit it relied on when federal agents searched Trump's estate to look for classified documents. Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
A page from a FBI property list of items seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and made public by the Department of Justice, are photographed Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. FBI agents who searched the home found empty folders marked with classified banners. The inventory reveals in general terms the contents of the 33 boxes taken during the Aug. 8 search. Â
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
A page from a FBI property list of items seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and made public by the Department of Justice, are photographed Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. FBI agents who searched the home found empty folders marked with classified banners. The inventory reveals in general terms the contents of the 33 boxes taken during the Aug. 8 search. Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
Pages from a FBI property list of items seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and made public by the Department of Justice, are photographed Sept. 2, 2022. Â
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
Pages from a FBI property list of items seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and made public by the Department of Justice, are photographed Sept. 2, 2022. Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
The indictment against former President Donald Trump is photographed on Friday, June 9, 2023. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to the unsealed indictment that also alleges that he improperly shared a Pentagon "plan of attack" and a classified map related to a military operation.Â
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
The indictment against former President Donald Trump is photographed on Friday, June 9, 2023. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to the unsealed indictment that also alleges that he improperly shared a Pentagon "plan of attack" and a classified map related to a military operation.Â
Former President Donald Trump indicted, faces 37 felony charges | Hot off the Wire podcast
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
The indictment against former President Donald Trump is photographed on Friday, June 9, 2023. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to the unsealed indictment that also alleges that he improperly shared a Pentagon "plan of attack" and a classified map related to a military operation.Â
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
The indictment against former President Donald Trump is photographed on Friday, June 9, 2023. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to the unsealed indictment that also alleges that he improperly shared a Pentagon "plan of attack" and a classified map related to a military operation.Â
