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National Review
National Review
3 Aug 2023
Brittany Bernstein


NextImg:Trump Arrives at D.C. Court for Arraignment in Special Counsel’s January 6 Probe

Former president Donald Trump arrived in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon to be arraigned on federal charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump traveled from Bedminster, N.J., to D.C. on Thursday for what will be his third arrest in four months.

A federal grand jury indicted Trump earlier this week after an investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his actions leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot.

He has been charged with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

The indictment lists six unnamed co-conspirators, including several attorneys, a DOJ official and a political consultant. It alleges Trump “pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results.”

“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. 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 reads.

Special counsel Jack Smith addressed the indictment in a brief statement to reporters on Tuesday.

“The attack on our nation’s capitol on January 6 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” he said at the news conference. “As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies.”

“My office will seek a speedy trial so our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens,” he added.

While Trump’s lawyers have said Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election are protected under the First Amendment, former attorney general Bill Barr dismissed that defense during an appearance on CNN on Wednesday.

“As the indictment says, they are not attacking his First Amendment right. He can say whatever he wants, he can even lie. He can even tell people that the election was stolen when he knew better,” Barr said. “But that does not protect you from entering into a conspiracy.”

He also dismissed another potential Trump defense: that he was just following the advice of advisers.

“It would not come out very well for him” if Trump made that defense in court, Barr said. “I think he’d be subject to very skilled cross examination, and I doubt he remembers all the different versions of events he has given over the last few years.”

Whether Trump truly believed the election was rigged is central to the prosecution’s case. In order to secure a conviction, Smith will have to demonstrate that Trump understood he had lost the election and was asking his co-conspirators to engage in criminal activity.

“At first I wasn’t sure, but I have come to believe he knew well he had lost the election,” Barr said.

Trump is already facing 42 felony counts as a result of special counsel Jack Smith’s separate investigation into the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. Before that, Trump was indicted in Manhattan on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.