WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump was criminally charged today in connection with his efforts to reverse his loss to President Joe Biden in 2020.
The charges mark the unprecedented third criminal indictment against the former president since he launched his latest bid for the 2024 Republican nomination. No other U.S. president, current or former, has ever faced criminal charges.
The election probe was led by special counsel Jack Smith, who also oversaw a separate investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents at his resort home Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House in 2021. Trump, in June, was charged with 37 counts related to his alleged efforts to conceal those records from the government. He received additional charges in the case last week, stemming from an alleged effort to delete surveillance footage from the Palm Beach club.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case, which is set to go to trial in May.
Special counsel Jack Smith will make a statement at 6 p.m. ET, the Department of Justice said.
The DOJ in a tweet shared a link to a video stream.
The rare remarks from the special counsel come less than an hour after the latest charges against Trump were unsealed.
To read the indictment, click here:
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/01/politics/read-trump-january-6-indictment/index.html