Legal experts see strong potential for Trump charges in Jan. 6 probe
Former President Trump could face charges under at least three statutes in connection with his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election, according to a review of the case by legal experts.
The analysis, offered in a model prosecution memo akin to what is typically prepared by prosecutors ahead of bringing charges, determines there is sufficient evidence to bring a case against Trump as well as several co-conspirators.
“Trump knew he lost the election but did not want to give up power, so he worked with his lawyers and others on a wide variety of schemes to change the outcome,” a group of former prosecutors and legal experts wrote in the memo published on Just Security.
“Those schemes included creating fraudulent electoral certificates that were submitted to Congress, implicating statutes such as 18 U.S.C. § 371, which prohibits conspiracies to defraud the United States in the administration of elections.”
Creating those fake electoral certificates could also implicate statutes that prohibit obstruction of an official proceeding, one of the charges also leveled at numerous rioters who entered the building, including members of the Oath Keepers and military and chauvinist group the Proud Boys.
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Some members of those groups have also been tried and convicted of seditious conspiracy, something the attorneys say “laid the groundwork for closely related insurrection charges against Trump.”
The attorneys also said that Trump could be charged under a statute that prohibits inciting an insurrection and giving aid