How many times has Donald Trump been indicted? Former president’s legal issues explored in wake of latest charges

Donald Trump, former president of the USA, has been indicted for the third time, this time in connection with the US Capitol Riots of January 6, 2021 as reported by the New York Times. The former President has already been indicted twice before.

The first time it was in New York over accusations of hush money, and the second time, it was at the Federal level for the retention of classified documents. It is also worth noting that he was also the first US President to be indicted in this manner, as reported by BBC.

In the latest indictment, Donald Trump has been charged for one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. The charges are levied due to his alleged role in inciting violence at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The former President could be sentenced to up to 20 years for each of his obstruction charges and up to 10 years for one count of conspiracy against rights.

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Special counsel Jack Smith has brought the latest indictment against Donald Trump

In 2022, a White House committee constituted to investigate the January 6 insurrection found that Donald Trump conspired to defraud the US government and incited the violence at the US Capitol.

The committee handed over the reins to the Department of Justice. Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought the indictment, spoke in a press conference on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

“Since the attack on our capital, the Department of Justice has remained committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened that day… This case is brought consistent with that commitment and our investigation of other individuals continues,” he said.

The court documents accuse Trump, claiming that the US elections were stolen by the Democrats despite being aware of the fact that allegations were false. The documents stated that he is guilty of the following:

"conspiracy to impair, obstruct, and defeat the federal government function through dishonesty, fraud and deceit"

There are six co-conspirators who have also been referred to. While the identity of the sixth remains unclear, the other five co-conspirators as per NBC News are reportedly former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani; lawyer John Eastman; attorney Sidney Powell; former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark; and Kenneth Chesebro, another attorney.

On the day of the indictment, prior to the announcement of the charges, Trump took to TruthSocial to state that another false indictment will be brought against him. After the charges were made public, Trump characterised them as a ploy to hurt his upcoming election campaign.

Donald Trump is facing another federal indictment, which was also brought against him by Smith for allegedly retaining classified documents even after his tenure as president.

Simultanoeusly, he faces charges for paying hush money during his 2016 campaign to prevent information about his alleged extramarital affairs being made public.

However, the charges against him have had little impact on his popularity and viability as a Republican Presidential Candidate.

In a statement given to the Guardian, Bill Whalen, a policy maker at the Hoover Institution thinktank, made the following comment about the former President's voter base in light of the recent indictment:

“The more the indictments, the better his poll numbers, the easier the argument that it’s two standards of justice and Donald Trump is persecuted and picked on...It’s very funny, considering he’s the pre-eminent bully in American politics, that no one plays the victim card better than him."

The former President will also likely be charged in Georgia for his role in tampering with Georgia elections in 2020 by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis soon.