VOA新闻杂志2023--Trump Indicted, Accused of Trying to Overturn 2020 Election

Trump¹ Indicted², Accused of Trying to Overturn 2020 Election

A United States federal grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on Tuesday with crimes connected to the 2020 presidential election.

The charging document, called an indictment³, accuses Trump of four crimes: conspiracy⁴ to defraud⁵ the government, blocking an official meeting of Congress and plotting to do so, and threatening people's right to vote.

The indictment centers on the months after the November 2020 election. It says Trump knew that he had lost the election but spread lies about the voting results as he was "determined⁶ to remain in power."

The former president, it says, tried and failed to use federal and state officials to overturn the election. It said he blocked the counting of electoral votes certifying⁷ Biden's victory on January 6, 2021, as thousands of his supporters attacked the Capitol building and police where the process was taking place.

In the announcement of the indictment, Special Counsel Jack⁸ Smith called the attack an "assault on the seat of American democracy." He added, "It was fueled by lies, lies by the defendant⁹ targeted at obstructing¹⁰ a bedrock function of the U.S. government: the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election."

The document refers to six other co-conspirators it says worked with Trump to undo¹¹ the election results. But the former president was the only one charged in Tuesday's indictment. He is expected to appear in court on Thursday.

Other legal actions against Trump

The latest legal action is the second time that Smith has charged Trump with criminal wrongdoing. In June, the special counsel accused Trump of illegally holding classified national security documents, obstruction¹², making false statements, and plotting with others to carry out a crime. A trial has been set for May 2024.

In March, the office of the Manhattan District Attorney in the state of New York charged Trump with criminally falsifying "business records to conceal¹³ crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election." That indictment made Trump the first former president to face criminal charges. That trial is set for next March.

Additionally, Trump and his business, the Trump Organization, are being accused of misleading banks and tax officials to get loans and tax benefits. The office of the New York State Attorney General is seeking to ban Trump from doing business in the state. A trial will start in state court in October.

In the southern state of Georgia, a grand jury has been investigating whether Trump and his allies had tried to illegally overturn the 2020 election result in that state. In early 2021, Trump was recorded on a phone call asking Georgian state election officials to "find" him 11,780 votes, one more than Biden's winning margin¹⁴, so Trump could claim the 16 electoral votes.

Trump is seeking reelection in 2024 and is the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination¹⁵. He has denied wrongdoing in all cases. And his campaign attacked the latest indictment, saying it was an "attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Justice Department" to interfere¹⁶ in the 2024 election.

Words in This Story

determine - v. decide

bedrock - n. strong idea, principle

function - n. special purpose or activity

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

3 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

4 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

5 defraud   

vt.欺骗，欺诈

参考例句：

• He passed himself off as the managing director to defraud the bank.他假冒总经理的名义诈骗银行。
• He is implicated in the scheme to defraud the government.他卷入了这起欺骗政府的阴谋。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 certifying   

（尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书

参考例句：

• Signed Commercial in quintuplicate, certifying merchandise to be of Chinese origin. 签署商业发票一式五份，证明产品的原产地为中国。
• Other documents certifying the truthfulness of the contents of the advertisements. （三）确认广告内容真实性的其他证明文件。

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

9 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

10 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

11 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

12 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

13 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

14 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

15 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

16 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。