The third Trump indictment was submitted Aug. 1 to a U.S. court in New York by “Special Counsel” Jack Smith, charging that Trump’s effort to show the 2020 election was stolen constitutes a massive conspiracy to “defraud the U.S.”; “obstruct and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding"; and “conspiracy against rights.” While there is no charge of “treason” or “insurrection,” which if convicted could prevent Trump from running for office, both the charge and the massive media coverage is essentially an attempt to present acts of treason—and to somehow break through the fact that much of the population doesn’t believe a word of it, as evidenced by the fact that Trump is still the overwhelmingly leading candidate in the polls for the Republican nomination, and essentially in a dead heat when head to head with President Biden.
The British daily Independent hides nothing, opening its coverage as follows: “Donald Trump, the first president to execute a plot to overturn American democracy, has just become the first President to be indicted for it.” They quote Special Counsel Smith that Trump’s “unprecedented attack” on democracy was “fueled by lies,” and point out that the indictment is essentially a restatement of the report released by the Congressional hearing (Star Chamber) into the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
