Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on conspiracy charges by top prosecutors Molly Gaston and J. P. Cooney, who are part of Jack Smith's legal team.
Interestingly, Gaston and Cooney had previously chosen not to pursue charges against former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe for allegedly lying under oath about investigations into the Clinton Foundation in 2016.
This sudden change in approach has raised eyebrows, with journalist Julie Kelly noting, "All of a sudden, Jack Smith's top prosecutors in charge of the J6 case against Trump are very concerned about alleged 'lies' and 'false statements' by a top government official." She added, "Wasn't so long ago they looked the other way."
The Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report revealed that McCabe had lied three times under oath to FBI and Office of the Inspector General (OIG) agents regarding his authorization of a leak to the Wall Street Journal. The report stated that McCabe had acted to further his personal interests at the expense of Department leadership.
In a letter to McCabe's attorneys on February 14, 2020, Cooney and Gaston informed them of the decision not to pursue criminal charges. The letter stated, "Based on the totality of the circumstances and all of the information known to the Government at this time, we consider the matter closed."
This decision not to charge McCabe drew attention to a perceived double standard in the Justice Department's approach. Former President Trump pointed out that his associate Roger Stone had been convicted of lying the previous year, questioning why others, including Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, John Brennan, James Clapper, Adam Schiff, Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr, Christopher Steele, and even Robert Mueller himself, had not faced similar consequences for alleged lies.
On Tuesday, Gaston and Cooney, along with Special Counsel Jack Smith, indicted former President Trump on charges related to the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. The charges include alleged conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one's vote counted.
In response to the indictment, former President Trump took to his platform Truth Social and posted, "If you go after me, I'm coming for you!" However, on Friday, Jack Smith's team attempted to silence the former President regarding court proceedings.
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