Why the latest accusations are the most serious made against Donald Trump
Trump accused of conspiring to overturn 2020 US election results
The January 6 attack on the Capitol (seat of the US Congress) was "fueled by lies," veteran prosecutor Jack Smith said at his brief press conference. Donald Trump's lies.
Throughout the 45 detailed pages of this indictment, the theme of dishonesty is repeated over and over again.
He talks about "prolific lies about voter fraud" and says "these allegations were false and the defendant knew they were false".
This will clearly be a key issue when this judgment comes to court. Whether this leads to a conviction is unclear — some legal experts are skeptical.
The New York lawsuit, which was filed in March, concerns allegations that he committed business fraud to conceal money he allegedly paid porn star Stormy Daniels before he was president.
The federal filing related to confidential documents Trump kept at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, residence details events that took place after he left office.
João Fellet tries to understand how Brazilians reached the current degree of division.
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But these latest accusations — that he conspired to try to overturn the 2020 election results — revolve around things that happened when Trump was still in the White House. He is accused of having repeatedly lied to the American people while he was their president.
There's also a real-world impact presented in this indictment that we haven't seen in the other cases.
Everyone saw the violence that engulfed the US Capitol in January 2021, and while Smith stopped short of accusing Trump of inciting that mob, the prosecutor was clear in his statement to reporters in which he notes this connection.
Some American commentators have pointed to another reason why they think these allegations are the most serious. They see Trump's alleged conduct as a threat to the ideals that underpin the country's foundations.
Since the country's founding, no former president "has been accused of conspiring to retain power in an elaborate scheme of deception and intimidation that would lead to violence in the halls of Congress," wrote Peter Baker in The New York Times.
"As serious as the bribery and confidential documents may be, this third charge in four months gets to the heart of the matter; the question that will define the future of American democracy," he added.
Smith also made a similar point during the indictment, that Trump had created "an intense national atmosphere of distrust and anger and eroded the public's faith in the administration of the election".
But does it matter to voters?
Across the United States, I have encountered countless Trump supporters who seem to sincerely believe that he actually won more votes than current President Joe Biden and was removed from office.
This is one of the tenets of faith that solidifies your base of support.
How are these people going to react when they hear detailed evidence that Trump knew there was no evidence of voter fraud?
That he was told over and over by his trusted inner circle that he had lost the election? Can their faith withstand the weight of evidence the prosecution will present to the court?
Prosecutor Smith says he is pushing for a speedy trial. So it could very well be taking place right in the middle of the next presidential election. And Trump is still the clear favorite to become the Republican Party's presidential nominee.
So voters — and not just Trump's base, but moderate Republicans, independents and crucial swing voters — will hear details about "dishonesty, fraud and deceit" during the election process.
It is a cliché to describe events involving Trump as "unprecedented".
But what other words are there to describe the prospect of a candidate for the US presidency running a campaign at the same time as being prosecuted for trying to subvert the results of the last election?
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