Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in court today after federal prosecutors indicted the former president of the United States for trying to overturn the 2020 election. Democrats and progressives welcomed the charges, but many Republicans sided with him.
Trump was indicted on Tuesday on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of official process and conspiracy to deprive voters of their right to a fair election. Prosecutors will lay out the charges and a judge will set bail conditions in the latest case against the 77-year-old former president.
When Trump was indicted in New York in March, it was the first time in US history that a president or former president faced criminal charges. He has pleaded not guilty to previous cases involving secret payments to a porn actress and withholding classified documents after he left the White House. He described those investigations, as well as those related to the elections, as part of a coordinated "witch hunt."
"The new indictment goes beyond social media chatter, rival political speech or even a congressional investigation. It's a formal criminal indictment filed by a federal prosecutor after an exhaustive months-long investigation," writes The Washington Post.
Historians and legal experts say the new indictment carries more weight than previous ones and that the charges Trump faces are an extraordinary test of the rule of law.
"This raises the question of how elections work, how power is transferred peacefully," John Greenspan of the National Museum of American History told The Washington Post. "This is really a question about the functioning of American democracy."
Lawrence Tribe, a Harvard law expert, said: "The crimes in this indictment are far more serious than anything committed against this country by any American citizen, let alone a former president."
Immediately after the indictment was announced, heavy accusations from supporters and claims of political persecution showed that it would deepen the country's deep divisions. Trump responded with the same inflammatory rhetoric detailed in the indictment that caused chaos in the country after the last presidential election.
His campaign issued a statement accusing incumbent Joe Biden's administration of targeting him for political gain. "The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes," the campaign said.
The "New York Times" writes that the third indictment against Trump in four months deals with a question that will define the future of American democracy, namely, can a current president spread lies about the election and try to use the authority of the government to nullify the will of the voters without consequences? The commentary states that the issue would have been unthinkable just a few years ago and that the Trump case is causing the kind of fear that is more familiar in countries with a history of coups, juntas and dictatorships.
The accusations of special prosecutor Jack Smith are more significant than those in two previous indictments against Trump in separate cases because this indictment goes to the very core of the founding values of America and the constitutional foundations of the republic, according to CNN.
"United States of America v. Donald J. Trump" immediately became one of the most significant documents in American history, according to CNN, noting that the 45-page indictment brought the country to an unprecedented, even tragic, situation.
"For the first time, America should try a former president for trying to destroy its democratic system because, according to the indictment, he 'was determined to stay in power' despite losing the election," according to CNN, adding that this the latest effort by the US government to clarify the fallout from the disputed 2020 election, including the trials of hundreds of rioters who stormed the Capitol. "It is the most concrete attempt yet to ensure that Trump bears the blame personally as the alleged mastermind of the conspiracy.
The allegations are all the more striking because Trump is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. If he returns to the White House, he would once again preside over a system of government that prosecutors say he tried to undermine
Experts believe that the trial against Trump could mark a key step in repairing the damage caused by those actions.
"Just as the fall of the Berlin Wall showed the weakness of the former Soviet Union, the Jan. 6 mob that tried to use force to override the will of the voters shocked the world and showed the weakness of our democracy," said Rachel Kleinfeld, who studies the rule of law, security and governance. at home and abroad for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"Now it's important to show the strength of our system by showing that no one, not even the former president, is above the law," she told The Washington Post. "This is more likely to restore a sense that America is back and that our democracy is strong."
CNN's analysis states that the trial of Trump would trigger a new series of consequences and potential constitutional crises, many of which are related to the fact that the former president wants to return to the White House.
"These allegations are all the more striking because Trump is also the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. If he returns to the White House, Trump would once again preside over a system of government that prosecutors say he has tried to undermine. This dynamic raises the stakes significantly in next year's election." year", states the "Washington Post".
Polls show that Trump is neck and neck with Biden in a hypothetical rematch.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the indictment was an attempt to "distract from the news" about Republican corruption allegations involving the incumbent's son, Hunter Biden, and the "attack favorite" to face Biden next year.
While the indictments could help Trump shore up support from his base and win the Republican nomination, they could prove less helpful in next year's election
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's main rival for the Republican nomination, said he had yet to read the indictment but vowed to "end the weaponization of the federal government," suggesting the case was being used to attack a political enemy.
DeSantis did not mention Trump by name, but promised that if elected president, he would "ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans," adding, "One of the reasons our country is in decline is the politicization of the rule of law."
Despite the scandals, and the possibility of new charges over alleged election subversion in Georgia, he has a comfortable lead over rivals for the Republican nomination. Nothing prevents defendants from campaigning or taking office if convicted.
Strategists said that while the indictments could help Trump shore up support from his base and win the Republican nomination, they could prove less useful in next year's election, when he will have to win over more skeptical moderates and independent voters.
Few were the Republicans who condemned the former president. Will Hurd, a former congressman from Texas, said Trump's presidential bid was "fueled by an attempt to avoid prison and to trick his supporters into paying his court costs."
Mike Pence, the former vice president who refused to bow to pressure not to certify the election results, said the latest indictment was "an important reminder that anyone who puts themselves above the constitution should never be president of the United States."
"The Guardian" writes that the reaction of Democrats and progressives to the indictment is evidence of a deep division in American politics. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, said the allegations show a "sinister conspiracy."
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the third indictment against Trump "illustrates in shocking detail ... a months-long criminal conspiracy led by the former president to oppose democracy and subvert the will of the American people." ".
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