January 6th and election denial
A D.C. Circuit panel declined on July 28, 2026 to block Trump's executive order asserting federal control over mail-in ballots, ruling only that a challenge was premature — leaving the fate of a sweeping, likely unconstitutional attempt to police voting rolls before the midterms in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Sen. Bill Cassidy — one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump after January 6 — became the first GOP senator in nearly a decade to lose renomination, finishing third in the Louisiana primary behind Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming.
Trump is poised to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for the creation of a $1.7 billion 'weaponization' fund — controlled by a commission he can fire at will — that can hand taxpayer money to nearly 1,600 Jan. 6 defendants and entities tied to Trump himself, with no obligation to disclose how decisions are made.
On his first day in office, Trump issued sweeping pardons and commutations for approximately 1,500 people charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, including individuals convicted of violent assaults on police officers.
In a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents enjoy absolute immunity for 'core' constitutional acts and presumptive immunity for all other official acts — a doctrine found nowhere in the Constitution and explicitly designed to delay Jack Smith's election-subversion case past the 2024 election.
In a 6-3 decision along partisan lines, the Supreme Court granted presidents sweeping immunity for 'official acts' — a doctrine found nowhere in the Constitution that gutted the federal January 6 prosecution and, in Justice Sotomayor's words, made the president 'a king above the law.'
A Fulton County, Georgia grand jury indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants under state racketeering laws for a sprawling conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, including Trump's recorded call pressuring the secretary of state to 'find' votes.
Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with four federal counts related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, alleging a broad conspiracy involving fake electors, pressure on the Vice President, and the weaponization of the Justice Department.
The House Select Committee voted unanimously to refer Donald Trump to the Justice Department on four criminal charges, including insurrection and obstruction, concluding that he was the 'central cause' of the January 6 attack.
The House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack launched its public hearings, presenting evidence over multiple sessions that Trump orchestrated a multi-part plan to overturn the 2020 election.
The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack issued subpoenas to members of Trump's inner circle, including former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Steve Bannon, and other key figures, setting up major legal confrontations over executive privilege.
The Senate voted 57-43 to convict Trump for incitement of insurrection, but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. Seven Republicans crossed party lines to vote guilty, the most bipartisan impeachment vote in history.
The House of Representatives impeached President Trump for the second time, charging him with 'incitement of insurrection' for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, making him the only president in American history to be impeached twice.
Following a rally where Trump urged supporters to 'fight like hell,' thousands stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's electoral victory.
In an Oval Office meeting with attorney John Eastman, Trump pressed Vice President Pence to reject certified electoral votes on January 6. When Pence refused on legal grounds, Trump publicly attacked him as a 'wimp' — and tweeted that Pence lacked 'courage' minutes after being told the Capitol had been breached and the mob was chanting 'Hang Mike Pence.'
In a recorded hour-long phone call, President Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to 'find 11,780 votes' to overturn Biden's victory in the state, a call that would later form the basis of criminal charges.
In the weeks following his election loss, Trump personally pressured state legislators, election officials, and governors in key battleground states to overturn certified results and declare him the winner.
After major news organizations called the presidential race for Joe Biden, Trump refused to concede and launched an unprecedented campaign to overturn the results, falsely claiming the election had been stolen through widespread fraud.
