A. 18 USC § 371: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States
The record of publicly disclosed facts shows that former President Donald Trump and members of his circle—including, at a minimum, outside attorney John Eastman—attempted to interfere with Congress’ electoral count on January 6, 2021. Among other things: They pressed Vice President Mike Pence to groundlessly reject electoral certificates from key states, attempting to deny Joe Biden the electoral college majority that he legitimately won in a fair and secure election. In the alternative, they wanted Pence to delay the electoral count. It furthermore appears that, in coercing leadership to baselessly declare the 2020 election to be tainted by fraud, in direct and unreasonable contravention of authoritative accounts, Trump and those around him—including, at a minimum, DOJ lawyer Jeffrey Clark—planned to interfere with the DOJ’s responsibility to investigate election offenses fairly and evenhandedly. There is substantial evidence supporting the conclusion that those schemes amount to one or more violations of 18 U.S.C. § 371, although any final determination must of course await the completion of the Committee’s hearing and report, and the decision of the DOJ. § 371 creates an offense “f two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy.”200
