From Brooking's report..........
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
thehill.com
