By not naming or charging six alleged co-conspirators in the indictment this week of former President Donald Trump, federal prosecutors may be signaling their desire to expeditiously put the Republican presidential front-runner on trial for seeking to overturn the 2020 election.
More defendants mean more defense lawyers, and more legal motions and more delays, according to legal scholars and former prosecutors. Such a large cast of defendants would make it extremely difficult for Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith to get Trump in front of a jury before the final stretch in the 2024 campaign, the experts said.
"This keeps it pretty streamlined," said Christopher Ott, a former federal prosecutor. "All of those motions by defendants affect all of the defendants, including Trump. It would slow things down. If you don’t name and charge them, you don’t have that trouble."
Trump, 77, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington on Tuesday on felony charges of seeking to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election and block the peaceful transfer of power to President Joe Biden.
The four-count indictment chronicles a months-long campaign by Trump and six unnamed co-conspirators to upend election results – an effort some critics connect to the 2021 Capitol attack.
It includes charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S., conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and obstructing an official proceeding. It also alleges Trump violated an 1800s law that makes it a crime to conspire to violate rights guaranteed by the Constitution — in this case, the right to vote.
It is the third time this year that Trump has been charged with a criminal offense. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami on charges of illegally retaining top secret documents. In New York, Trump faces criminal charges in a hush money case and a civil trial over his business practices.
He could face further charges in Georgia, where a county district attorney is investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.
The indictment Tuesday alleges that Trump was aided in his efforts to overturn the election by six unnamed co-conspirators.
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