Trump's Legal Troubles: Indictment And Broken Laws

Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted on multiple charges, including conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy against the rights of citizens, and falsifying business records. Trump is the first former US president to be criminally convicted, and he has also been charged with attempting to overturn the 2020 election result.

Trump's lawyers have requested the dismissal of charges, citing his immunity as president, but the Supreme Court has ruled that he only has partial immunity for official acts carried out during his presidency.

Trump's indictment and potential conviction have raised questions about the possibility of him being imprisoned and whether he will be able to run for president again.

Conspiracy to defraud the US

The first part of the conspiracy involves defrauding the US by using fraud and deceit to impair, obstruct and defeat how the government collects, counts and certifies the results of presidential elections. The indictment alleges that Trump knowingly spread "pervasive and destabilising lies" about election fraud, which threatened the presidential election and, therefore, American democracy. It also mentions that Trump had six co-conspirators who helped him carry out his unlawful efforts to overturn the election results by pushing officials to ignore the popular vote, disenfranchise millions of voters and replace legitimate electors with fake ones.

The second part of the conspiracy involves corruptly obstructing and impeding the certification of the electoral college results by Congress on 6 January 2021. The indictment mentions that Trump, on several occasions, pressured Vice President Mike Pence to reject the electoral votes and certify the results in his favour. The third and final part of the conspiracy involves violating the right to vote and to have one's vote counted, which comes under the conspiracy against rights statute.

The penalty for conspiracy to defraud the US is a fine or up to five years in prison. However, it is unclear whether Trump will serve any jail time, even if convicted, due to logistical, security and political considerations.

Obstruction of an official proceeding

On August 1, 2023, former US President Donald Trump was indicted on four charges for his conduct following the 2020 presidential election, through the January 6 Capitol attack. One of the charges was "obstructing an official proceeding", which is defined under the penal code as "corruptly" obstructing, impeding or interfering with any official government proceeding. The crime is codified as 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2). The relevant subsection reads:

> (c) Whoever corruptly—

> (1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or

> (2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so,

>

> shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

The term "official proceeding" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1515(a)(1) to include proceedings before federal judges, Congress, federal government agencies, and regulators of insurance businesses.

Trump was charged with this crime because the Department of Justice alleged that he obstructed Congress's certification of the electoral college results on January 6, 2021. This included creating fake election certificates declaring himself the winner of key swing states, as well as pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to disregard President-elect Joe Biden's electors and pushing the DOJ to falsely claim there were problems with the vote in Georgia or other states.

The obstruction of an official proceeding charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Conspiracy against rights

The "Conspiracy Against Rights" statute, passed during the Civil War era, prohibits "two or more persons" from conspiring "to injure, threaten, or intimidate a person in any state, territory, or district in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or the laws of the US." In the case of Donald Trump, the right in question is the right to vote, which prosecutors allege he threatened by attempting to tamper with the 2020 election results in battleground states.

The statute was originally passed in response to violence and intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan, aimed at preventing Black citizens from exercising their legal rights, including the right to vote, running for public office, and serving on juries.

If convicted of this charge, Trump could face a fine or prison time of up to 10 years.

Falsifying business records

In March 2023, Donald Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan for falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges related to a hush-money payment of $130,000 made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016, shortly before the 2016 election. Prosecutors alleged that Trump was part of an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and suppress negative information. Trump pleaded not guilty.

In May 2024, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. He was sentenced to an unconditional discharge in January 2025.

Trump is the first former US president to be criminally convicted. However, due to his reelection in November 2024, he will face no legal penalties for this conviction.

Mishandling classified documents

In June 2023, former US President Donald Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury on 37 felony counts related to the mishandling of classified documents. The indictment was filed by the office of special counsel Jack Smith and included charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements to the government.

The indictment alleged that Trump had improperly stored boxes containing classified documents at his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, including in a ballroom, bathroom, and shower. Federal prosecutors also accused Trump of defying requests from the Justice Department to hand over classified documents, making false statements to the FBI, and tapping his aides to help hide boxes of records.

In July 2023, a superseding indictment was filed, adding three more charges, bringing the total number of counts against Trump to 40. The new charges included the willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act, as well as altering and destroying evidence.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and, in July 2024, federal district court judge Aileen M. Cannon dismissed the case, ruling that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional. Smith appealed the ruling, but the appeal was later dropped after Trump's election victory in November 2024, due to the Justice Department's policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.

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