WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2023) Former US President Donald Trump said in an email to his supporters on Wednesday that he is now facing up to 561 years in prison following the publication of a new indictment against him in connection with his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
On Tuesday, a Federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Trump with four criminal counts in connection to special counsel Jack Smith's probe into his alleged role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"With Crooked (US President) Joe's (Biden's) corrupt DOJ (the Department of Justice) having unlawfully INDICTED yours truly yet again, reports indicate that I could now face a combined 561 YEARS in prison from the Left's witch hunts," Trump said in the email.
The Justice Department accuses Trump of one count each of four crimes: conspiracy to threaten or oppress someone exercising a constitutional right, which carries a maximum penalty 10 years in prison; conspiracy to defraud the US (maximum sentence of five years in prison); corruptly obstructing an official proceeding (maximum sentence of 20 years in prison) and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding (maximum sentence 20 years in prison).
It remains unclear, however, whether he will receive the maximum penalty for each charge and whether any of the charges can be served concurrently.
Trump was first indicted by the Manhattan district attorney in March in relation to hush money paid via his personal attorney to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. He faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Each count carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Trump was indicted a second time in June - his first federal indictment - relating to his alleged retention of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump faces a total of 40 counts on various charges. Each of the 32 counts of retention of national defense information carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The charges also include one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding records from an official proceeding; concealing records from an official proceeding; concealing documents from federal investigators; altering, destroying, or hiding something sought by the government; and corruptly altering, destroying, or hiding something sought by the government, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
In addition, Trump also faces one count each of scheming to conceal and lying to the US government, each of which carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.
The array of criminal charges comes in the middle of the campaign for the 2024 presidential election, in which Trump is the Republican Party's leading candidate, according to the latest polling data compiled by Real Clear politics.
