HARRISBURG, Pa. — As he boarded his plane at Regan International Airport, President Trump remained defiant after a court hearing in Washington. He faces charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
“This was never supposed to happen in America, this is the persecution of the person that's leading by very substantial numbers in the Republican primary," said Trump after the indictment hearing.
The accusations are laid out in a 45-page indictment. Several sections of which highlight attempts to overturn election results in Pennsylvania.
The indictment alleges co-conspirators with Trump’s campaign met with state legislators to pressure them into sending an alternative slate of electors to Washington. Those electors would have tried to certify Donald Trump as the winner of Pennsylvania over Joe Biden.
“If the indictment is stating facts accurately, then Trump’s plan, more or less from the start, was to use these alternative electors as a way of undermining the true vote count in Pennsylvania," said Michael Dimino, a law professor at Widner University Commonwealth Law School.
The indictment says the recruited alternate electors were told they would be used only if Trump’s vote count challenges succeeded in court. Dimino said this could protect them from liability.
“To be a co-conspirator, you have to agree to a scheme that is illegal," said Dimino. "Well, what they agreed to was perfectly legal.”
He said the only crime outlined in the indictment was committed by President Trump and his co-conspirators, who are accused of lying to the electors.
“The plan is illegal only in details that were not provided to these people who were acting in Pennsylvania," said Dimino.