Takeaways from the Trump indictment that alleges a campaign of 'fraud and deceit'

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Donald Trump on Tuesday marks the first time that the former president has been formally held accountable for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. And it adds new details to what was already known about his actions, and those of his key allies, in the weeks leading up to the violent Jan 6, 2021 insurrection. The newest charges — Trump's third criminal indictment this year — include conspiracy to defraud the United States government and conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding, the congressional certification of President Joe Biden's victory.

It describes how Trump repeatedly told supporters and others that he had won the election, despite knowing that was false, and how he tried to persuade state officials, his own vice president and finally Congress to overturn the legitimate results. Due to the «dishonesty, fraud and deceit» by Trump and some of his closest allies, the indictment says, his supporters «violently attacked the Capitol and halted the proceeding.» In the attack, his supporters beat and injured police officers and broke through windows and doors, sending lawmakers running for their lives. Some takeaways from Tuesday's indictment: As Trump schemed to overturn the 2020 election, many of his aides and allies were under no illusion that Trump — a longtime provocateur — had actually won.

Some aides directly refuted conspiracy theories stirred by Trump and his lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Others told him point blank he had lost. «There is no world, there is no option in which you do not leave the White House (o)n January 20th,» a unnamed deputy White House counsel told Trump on Jan.