August 1, 2023
Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Donald Trump on August 1, 2023, with four felony counts for running a multi-state scheme to keep himself in power after losing the 2020 presidential election.
Grand jury indicted Trump on four felony counts on August 1, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
The four counts: conspiracy to defraud the US; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy against rights
Six unnamed co-conspirators identified by press as Giuliani, Eastman, Powell, Clark, Chesebro, and Epshteyn
False electors scheme involved 84 Republicans in 7 states signing fake Electoral College certificates
Supreme Court's July 2024 ruling in Trump v. United States granted presidents absolute immunity for core official acts but not unofficial acts
Smith moved to dismiss all charges in November 2024 after Trump won the presidential election, citing DOJ policy on sitting presidents
Special Counsel
Defendant
Co-Conspirator 1 (unnamed in indictment)
Co-Conspirator 2 (unnamed in indictment)
Vice President and central pressure target
Co-Conspirator 4 (unnamed in indictment)
Presiding Judge, U.S. District Court D.C.
research
Read the actual January 6 federal indictment at justice.gov
Indictments are public documents that lay out specific factual allegations. Reading one firsthand is the difference between understanding a legal case and just having opinions about it.
The false electors scheme was not just a political stunt — submitting forged Electoral College certificates to the National Archives and Congress is a federal crime. Read Jack Smith's actual indictment at justice.gov to see exactly which documents prosecutors say were forged, which states were involved, and what role each charged participant played. The indictment is a public legal document written to be persuasive but also specific. Reading it directly, rather than through media summaries, lets you evaluate the strength of the evidence yourself.
civic action
Contact your representatives about codifying the DOJ no-prosecution policy into law
When a consequential policy rests on an internal memo rather than a law, elected officials bear no accountability for it. Demanding congressional action converts a bureaucratic decision into a public vote.
The DOJ policy — not law — bars prosecution of sitting presidents. Congress has never codified this rule, and any Attorney General could reverse it with a memo. Contact your senators through senate.gov to demand a hearing on whether the no-prosecution policy should be replaced with a statute. Ask specifically: Do you support legislation that would clarify whether a sitting president can be criminally indicted, so courts — not executive branch memos — make that decision? Keep a record of their response.
research
Understand what conspiracy to defraud the United States actually requires
Many of the most consequential federal charges are conspiracy charges, not completed-act charges. Understanding what conspiracy law requires — and does not require — clarifies what prosecutors must prove.
The conspiracy to defraud the United States charge (18 U.S.C. 371) does not require proving a completed fraud — only an agreement to impair the government's lawful function. Read the statute directly at uscode.house.gov. This is why Smith could charge Trump for the pressure campaign even before the Capitol was attacked: the crime was the coordination itself, not just the outcome. Understanding this statute helps citizens evaluate news coverage that frames the charges as requiring proof of a successful stolen election.