Trump indictment news: Grand jury charges Trump on four counts in 2020 election interference probe

Robert F Kennedy Jr is facing mockery and criticism after it has been revealed that more than half of his Super PAC funding came from a single Republican mega-donor.

The son of the assassinated Attorney General and New York Senator Robert F Kennedy is running against President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, with observers giving him little chance of giving the incumbent a real challenge.

Rudy Giuliani is believed to be one of the unnamed co-conspirators in Tuesday’s special counsel indictment against Donald Trump.

The former mayor of New York served as a key legal adviser to the former president throughout the contentious 2020 presidential campaign.

On Tuesday, Mr Giuliani weighed in on the charges in a lengthy statement from a spokesperson to The Independent.

“Every fact Mayor Rudy Giuliani possesses about this case establishes the good faith basis President Donald Trump had for the actions he took during the two-month period charged in the indictment.This indictment eviscerates the First Amendment and criminalizes the ruling regime’s number one political opponent for daring to ask questions about the 2020 election results.This indictment underscores the tragic reality of our two-tiered justice system—one for the regime in power and the other for anyone who dares to oppose the ruling regime.The news today is particularly egregious in light of the growing evidence proving that Joe Biden and his family made millions of dollars in bribes from America’s most intransigent adversaries.” – Ted Goodman, Political Advisor to Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released the following statement after Donald Trump was indicted in connection to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election:

The insurrection on January 6, 2021 was one of the saddest and most infamous days in American history, personally orchestrated by Donald Trump and fueled by his insidious Big Lie in an attempt to undermine the 2020 election. In a deadly effort to overturn the will of the American people and block the peaceful transition of power, our nation’s Capitol—the very symbol and home of American patriotism and democracy—fell under attack to thousands of vicious and violent rioters.

The third indictment of Mr Trump illustrates in shocking detail that the violence of that day was the culmination of a months-long criminal plot led by the former president to defy democracy and overturn the will of the American people. This indictment is the most serious and most consequential thus far and will stand as a stark reminder to generations of Americans that no one, including a president of the United States, is above the law. The legal process must continue to move forward without any outside interference.

Fox News host Jesse Watters on Tuesday compared the recent special counsel indictment of Donald Trump for allegedly trying to tamper with the 2020 election results to a war crime on the order of atomic bombing or germ warfare.

“This is overkill,” Mr Watters said in a segment on Tuesday. “This is political germ warfare. These are political war crimes. It’s an atrocity. It’s like not just dropping one atomic bomb, you drop 15 dozen.”

On Tuesday, the former president was hit with four federal charges alleging he knew he had lost the presidential election, but continued attempting to mobilise his supporters, fake electors, and lawsuits to challenge the results anyway and cling onto power.

The Trump 2024 campaign responded to the indictment by comparing the US to Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, declaring that Mr Trump “will not be deterred by disgraceful and unprecedented political targeting”.

More details in our full story.

A late-day indictment from Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith charging Donald Trump with crimes related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election has uncovered a revealing conversation between Mr Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence after the latter refused to join in the scheme.

Mr Smith charged Mr Trump with four felony counts related to the election subversion campaign his team ran in the days and weeks after he lost to Joe Biden. Among the DoJ’s lengthy court filing Tuesday evening was a description of a conversation between the former president, dubbed “defendant”, and Mr Pence after the latter had told his boss that using his role as president of the Senate to interfere with the chamber’s certification of the Electoral College vote would be illegal.

According to the indictment, Mr Trump responded by chiding his deputy for supposedly being “too honest”.

In a statement first reported by ABC News, Mr Pence commented on the newest indictment: “Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.”

John Bowden has the details.

Ms Greene posted on X that Mr Smith’s office should be defunded amid the news of the indictment.

A four-count federal indictment against Donald Trump accuses the former president of conspiring with his allies to overturn the results of a democratic election and deprive Americans of their constitutional rights in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

Mr Trump knew he had lost the election but continued to pursue efforts to remain in power, including the so-called alternate elector scheme to fraudulently certify the results submitted to Congress, according to federal prosecutors.

The indictment also lists six unnamed co-conspirators who are likely to include Trump-connected attorneys and former administration officials and advisers.

Charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Longshot GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson comments on the indictment:

I have always said that Donald Trump is morally responsible for the attack on our democracy. Now, with today’s indictment, our system of Justice will determine whether he is criminally responsible.

After Special Counsel Jack Smith handed down yet another indictment against former President Donald Trump—this time with criminal charges over 2020 election interference—fellow 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis took the opportunity to defend Mr Trump, as well as make campaign promises.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi comments on the latest Trump indictment: