Donald Trump Charged in Federal Election Interference Case
On August 1, 2023, former President Donald Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., on four felony counts related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and disrupt the January 6, 2021, certification of the Electoral College vote.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment accused Trump and unnamed co-conspirators of orchestrating a multi-step scheme centered on knowingly false claims of widespread election fraud. The charges included:
- Conspiracy to Defraud the United States (18 U.S.C. § 371) — for using deceit to impair the government’s function of certifying the election.
- Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding (18 U.S.C. § 1512(k)) — targeting the joint session of Congress on January 6.
- Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding (18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2)) — for corruptly seeking to halt or delay the certification.
- Conspiracy Against Rights (18 U.S.C. § 241) — for allegedly violating Americans’ constitutional right to have their votes counted.
Prosecutors alleged the scheme involved promoting baseless fraud narratives, creating alternate slates of electors in battleground states, pressuring state officials and Vice President Mike Pence, and exploiting the Capitol riot to delay the electoral count.
Trump pleaded not guilty on August 3, 2023. A superseding indictment was filed in 2024 to account for the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision. Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, Special Counsel Smith moved to dismiss the case in November 2024, and the court granted the dismissal.
The federal case, one of several brought against the former president, never reached trial.
