(NewsNation) — Former President Trump was indicted this week for his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election.
Trump faces four new charges: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
Maryland’s Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey discussed what is now Trump’s third indictment on “The Hill on NewsNation, expressing support for the prosecutor’s strategic approach.
Ivey said focusing on charges related to the false slates of electors, rather than the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, should lead to a stronger case.
“In order to actually get the conviction for the underlying conduct that I think is more serious, which is the false slates of electors … I think that’s a stronger case to make,” Ivey said. “And I think it helps to avoid the First Amendment issues that I think are going to arise. And I think you get the same kind of result from a conviction with those charges.”
Ivey acknowledged that he personally thought Trump’s comments played a role in inciting violence during the Capitol riot, but he understood the prosecutor’s decision to concentrate on different charges.
In the indictment, Special Counsel Jack Smith accused Trump of “obstructing a bedrock function of the US government — the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.”
The two alleged offenses regarding obstructing an official proceeding bear the harshest penalty. The maximum sentence for each offense is 20 years in prison.
Conspiracy against rights carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, while the fourth charge carries a maximum five-year sentence.
Trump’s two earlier indictments include the alleged falsification of business records in New York and sensitive documents kept at Mar-a-Lago after Trump’s presidency ended.
Ivey emphasized that the focus of the case was on Trump’s actions while he was still president, thus demonstrating that the case isn’t an example of the DOJ being “weaponized.”
“I think the focus of the case is what happened before Mr. Biden became president, at least formally,” he said. “The witnesses being all Republican, I think, strengthens the hand of the prosecutor and protects him to some extent from the counter-arguments that this is all political.”
The Hill contributed to this report.
