Donald Trump's Capitol Insurrection Indictment

Overview

Donald Trump's Capitol Insurrection Indictment refers to the indictment of former President Donald Trump for his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 United States Presidential Election and block the peaceful transfer of power, as well as his role in allegedly spurring on the January 6th, 2021, Storming of the U.S. Capitol. It is Trump's third indictment in 2023, following indictments in the Stormy Daniels Hush Money case and the Mishandling of Classified Presidential Records case. It is believed to be the third of four potential indictments against Trump in 2023, as a case over his alleged efforts to overturn the election in Georgia during the 2020 election is also being investigated by officials there.

Background

On July 18th, 2023, Donald Trump shared a post to Truth Social saying he was sent a target letter by Special Counsel Jack Smith^[1] (shown below). Trump and media analysts at the time saw this as a sign an indictment was imminent.

Of note, it was reported that Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former lawyer and a key figure in the alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election results spoke with Special Counsel Jack Smith but was not served a target letter. This led to speculation that he may have "flipped" against Trump in the investigation.^[2]

Developments

On August 1st, 2023, Trump was indicted on four counts related to his alleged efforts to overturn the election and conspire to use the violence of January 6th to further delay the counting of votes.^[3][4] As stated by the Associated Press in an article published that same day:

"The indictment includes charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S., conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing an official proceeding and violating a post-Civil War Reconstruction Era civil rights statute that makes it a crime to conspire to violate rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution -- in this case, the right to vote."

Though Trump is the only person charged in the indictment, it lists half a dozen co-conspirators who allegedly attempted to aid Trump's scheme to overturn election results. They are believed to be Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jeff Clark, Kenneth Chesebro and an unknown political consultant.^[5]

Online Reactions

Online, several posters made jokes and memes about the number of times Donald Trump had been indicted in 2023. For example, on August 1st, 2023, Twitter user @pattymo^[6] joked that Trump was "in a CRANK-type situation where getting serially indicted is the only thing keeping his heart going," gaining over 400 retweets and 5,300 likes in one day (shown below, left). The same day, user @mnateshyamalan^[7] joked he was "bored" of Trump getting indicted, saying, "they should trap him in a computer like Tron," gaining over 380 retweets and 5,300 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Search Interest

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External References