Robert Reich Presents Five Facts About Donald Trump’s Indictments

“No elected U.S. official has ever been accused of anything remotely on the scale of what Donald Trump has been charged with,” says author, lawyer, and political commentator Robert Reich.

In just over four months, Trump has been indicted four times by a grand jury.

• In March, Trump became the first former U.S. president to ever be charged with a crime and was arraigned in New York on 34 felonies related to paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

• In June, Trump became the first president to face federal criminal charges when a grand jury in Florida indicted him over the mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.

• Earlier this month, Trump was indicted on four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the civil rights of citizens (the right of their vote to be counted).All four counts in this indictment center on Trump’s efforts to stay in office after Joe Biden defeated him in the November 2020 election.

• And now just this week, a Georgia grand jury has voted to indict Trump and eighteen of his allies. This latest indictment stems from the investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into Trump and his allies’ attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

In introducing on his YouTube channel his most recent video (below), Robert Reich reminds us that Trump’s prosecution isn’t a “witch hunt,” as Trump and his supporters like to call it, but rather a “defense of our democracy.”





Related Off-site Links:
“Criminal Enterprise”: Trump and 18 Co-Conspirators Indicted in Georgia Election Case – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, August 15, 2023).
How the Georgia Indictment Against Donald Trump May Be the Biggest Yet – Nicholas Riccardi and Meg Kinnard (AP News, August 15, 2023).
LaTosha Brown: Trump’s Georgia Indictment Is “Step Forward” in Defending Democracy – Democracy Now! (August 15, 2023).
What Will Happen With the Fourth Indictment? – Robert Reich (Truthdig, August 15, 2023).
Donald Trump Tells Georgia Witness Not to Testify. What Could This Possibly Indicate About His Guilt or Innocence? – Jonathan Chait (New York Magazine, August 14, 2023).
“Biased.” “Corrupt.” “Deranged.” Trump’s Taunts Test Limits of Release – Maggie Haberman (The New York Times via Yahoo! News, August 16, 2023).
Republicans Defend Trump at Their Own Risk – Michael Hamer (Michael-in-Norfolk, August 16, 2023).

UPDATES: Trump Attorneys Mocked for Requesting 2026 Date for January 6 Trial – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, August 18, 2023).
Trump Says He Will Skip GOP Presidential Primary Debates – Jill Colvin (AP News, August 20, 2023).
Legal Scholars Increasingly Raise Constitutional Argument That Trump Should Be Barred From Presidency – Katelyn Polantz (CNN News, August 20, 2023).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Sean O’Grady: Quote of the Day – August 15, 2023
• Something to Think About – August 4, 2023
• Marianne Williamson on Trump’s Day in Court
• Jessica Roth: Quote of the Day – August 1, 2023
• Why Trump’s Classified Documents Case Is Unique
• Rahna Epting: Quote of the Day – June 9, 2023
• Jeff Sharlet on the Fascist Ideology of Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene
• It’s Not Just Trump: Ralph Nader on the “Lawlessness” of Other U.S. Presidents
• Chauncey Devega on the Ongoing Danger of the Trump Cult
• Historian Nancy MacLean: The Threat to American Democracy Is at “Red-Alert”
• William D. Lindsey: Quote of the Day – August 12, 2022
• “How Can One Overreact to a Mortal Threat to American Democracy?”
• A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking Democracy
• “The Coup Attempt on Jan. 6th Was a Warning for What’s to Come If We Don’t Act”
• “My Biggest Worry Is for My Country”
• Republicans Pose an “Existential Threat” to American Democracy
• The Big Switch
• The Republican Party in a Nutshell
• Republicans Don’t Care About American Democracy
• “The Republican Party Has Now Made It Official: They Are a Cult”
• David Remnick: Quote of the Day – February 13, 2021
• Dan Rather on America’s “Moment of Reckoning”
• Michael Harriot: Quote of the Day – January 6, 2021
• Insurrection at the United States Capitol
• Donald Trump’s Open and Shameless Criminality
• Fascism Is Upon Us
• Saying “No” to Donald Trump and His Fascist Agenda
• Trump’s Playbook