Trump indictment takeaways: Pence ‘too honest,’ allies shrug off violence

globalnews.ca:

Donald Trump on Tuesday over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and remain in power includes remarkable allegations about the lengths Trump and his allies went, and how he belittled those who stood in his way.Those he raged against included Mike Pence, his otherwise loyal vice-president who Trump, according to the indictment, accusing of being “too honest” for not going along with a scheme to obstruct the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021 — a scheme Trump’s own co-conspirators admitted was not lawful, the indictment alleges.Prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith detailed several other allegations against not just Trump but also six unnamed co-conspirators, who are quoted at length allegedly shrugging off suggestions their actions will lead to violent protests and doubling down on false claims of election fraud, despite not having evidence to back them up.Most of all, the indictment alleges repeatedly that Trump knew he had lost the election, even admitting so at times, but sowed discontent against the election anyways.Here are some of the takeaways from the indictment.At various points in the indictment, prosecutors break down the multiple ways Trump was informed by his aides, White House lawyers, campaign staff and state and local officials that his claims of fraud were false and had been debunked.On Nov.

7, 2020, the indictment says — four days after the election but a day before Biden was declared the presumptive winner — Trump’s senior campaign staff told Trump he only had a five to 10 per cent chance of winning, which was contingent on the campaign’s lawsuits being successful. None of them were.By January, the warnings to Trump had become more stark.“There is no