J'Accuse!

The indictment lists numerous high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Mar 06, 2025

Above: Introductory section of House Resolution 24, impeaching Donald John Trump for “incitement of insurrection.”

As Volunteer Acting Archivist of the United States, it is my solemn duty to present the following indictment against President Donald Trump and other criminals who currently control the U.S. government.1 The indictment lists the major provisions of the United States Constitution that the Trump regime has violated during its first six weeks in office.2 This list is by no means comprehensive. The indictment does not include the regime’s numerous violations of federal law, all of which are also impeachable offenses.

I hope that this indictment may be helpful to members of Congress if they decide to fulfill their Constitutional duty by impeaching these criminals and removing them from office. If they do not, then perhaps it will be useful to future historians who study the demise of Constitutional government in the United States.

The closest historical antecedent to the lawless Trump regime is the Presidency of Richard M. Nixon, who remains to this day the only President who was forced out of office for his crimes. But sadly, the cautionary tale of Nixon is not very similar to our current situation, for America in Nixon’s day was still a nation ruled by law. On July 27, 1972, the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary adopted three Articles of Impeachment against Nixon in connection with his cover-up of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building: (1) obstruction of justice, (2) “violating the constitutional rights of citizens” while “contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch and the purpose of these agencies,” and (3) disobeying subpoenas from the Committee. In 1972, the Congress was willing and able to investigate a criminal President. A Congressional committee was willing to enforce its own lawful subpoenas. The House Judiciary Committee was willing to recommend that Congress remove the President from office because this lawless President had impeded the work of the Justice Department, violated a few Rights from the Bill, and used a few federal agencies for purposes contrary to those authorized by Congress. At the time, these were considered “high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The Constitution charges Congress to remove from office anyone guilty of such crimes, and the 1972 Congress took that responsibility seriously. Nixon knew it. He was so convinced that Congress would remove him for his crimes that he resigned from office before the full House could vote on the Articles of Impeachment.

That was then.

During his first term as President, Trump was impeached for crimes he committed while attempting to interfere with the 2020 Presidential election. These crimes were strikingly similar to those for which Nixon was almost impeached. On December 18, 2019, the House of Representatives passed two Articles of Impeachment against Trump: abuse of power for soliciting the interference of a foreign government (Ukraine) in the U.S. election, and obstruction of Congress for failure to comply with lawful Congressional subpoenas. These charges were very similar to those against Nixon. But by 2020, the United States Senate was no longer willing to fulfill its Constitutional duty by removing a rogue President who abused his powers in an effort to steal an election. On February 5, 2020, the Senate acquitted Trump on both counts. The votes were 48–52 on the first count and 47–53 on the second count.

On January 6, 2021, America watched in horror as Trump encouraged an insurrectionist mob to storm the U.S. Capitol in order to prevent the Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Once again, Trump had committed crimes in an effort to steal an election, but this time his crimes were far more serious. Just a week later, on January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives passed a single Article of Impeachment against Trump: for incitement of insurrection. Once again, the Senate failed to meet the historical moment. On February 13, 2021, some 57 Senators, including 7 Republicans, voted to convict Trump, while 43 Republican Senators voted to acquit Trump of inciting the insurrection which had put the entire Congress in mortal danger just one week prior. Since conviction in an impeachment trial requires an unrealistically high two-thirds supermajority, Trump was acquitted, but it was hardly the resounding acquittal he made it out to be. A clear majority of Senators, including 7 from his own party, had found him guilty.

In 1972, a President who was caught trying to steal an election resigned in disgrace before Congress even had time to impeach him for this crime. In 2020, a President caught trying to steal an election was acquitted of this crime by a majority of U.S. Senators. In 2021, that same President caught trying to steal that same election was acquitted by a minority of U.S. Senators. In 2024, a New York jury found that Trump had committed 34 felonies while trying to steal the 2016 Presidential election. Trump had paid adult film actor Stormy Daniels hush money to conceal the adulterous sex he had with her so that this adultery would not have an adverse affect on his 2016 Presidential campaign. But although Trump was guilty on all counts, Judge Juan Merchan could only sentence him to “unconditional discharge”: no punishment at all, because Trump had already been re-elected President.

In 1972, Nixon could no longer be President after America learned that he had tried to steal an election. In 2025, Trump can still be President even though he has been impeached twice for trying to steal one election and convicted of 34 felonies for trying to steal another. Trump has tacit permission from Congress and explicit permission from the Supreme Court to commit much more serious crimes during his second term. He is doing so eagerly, secure in the knowledge that he will never face justice for any of his crimes. Every single day that he is in office, Trump repeatedly commits every one of the crimes that drove Nixon to resign, and many more besides. He does so with complete impunity. Congress does not show the slightest interest in impeaching Trump for his numerous high Crimes and Misdemeanors, many of which are detailed here. Trump also has absolute immunity from prosecution for his crimes, since the Supreme Court sided with him in Trump v. United States (2024).

Each charge in the indictment below is preceded by the relevant provision of the U.S. Constitution. In the interest of providing context for each of these Constitutional provisions, I have quoted the full section in which each provision appears. The text of the Constitution is drawn from the National Archives transcripts of the Constitution and the 1972 House Joint Resolution 208 proposing Amendment XXVIII to the several states.3 The annotations listing the regime’s “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” appear in boldface between line dividers, like this:

Amendment XIV

Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Any Executive Order purporting to restrict or eliminate birthright citizenship violates this provision.

Please send comments, questions and corrections to lcall@calpoly.edu.

Lewis Call, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus, History, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo

Volunteer Acting Archivist of the United States

We the People of the United States charge the following violations of the Constitution of the United States:

Article. I.

Section. 1.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

The legislative Powers of Congress include the power to appropriate funds. Trump violates this provision every time he fails to spend duly appropriated funds in the manner that Congress has directed. The Executive Branch does not have the authority to seize this or any other legislative Power from the Congress.

Section. 3.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year.

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

This provision clearly indicates that a former President may “be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law” for crimes that he committed while he was President. Writing for the majority in Trump v. United States (2024), U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts willfully ignored the plain text and clear meaning of this provision, ruling that Trump had “absolute immunity” from prosecution for crimes he committed during his first term as President. This ruling had no basis in history, tradition, law, fact, or a quarter-millennium of Constitutional jurisprudence. It allowed Trump to escape all legal accountability for attempting to overturn the 2020 Presidential election, which in turn allowed Trump to reclaim the Presidency and commit many more crimes. After his 2025 State of the Union address, Trump publicly thanked Roberts for performing the valuable service of ruling that Trump’s attempt to steal the 2020 election is not actually a crime. Chief Justice Roberts should be impeached and removed from office for this, his most lawless decision.

Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

This provision grants Congress the power of the purse. When Congress appropriates funds to “provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States,” the Constitution requires the Executive to use those funds for the purposes that Congress has designated. Every time Trump defunds a program that Congress has approved, he is violating this provision.

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

Trump’s cryptocurrencies constitute an attempt to seize from Congress the power to coin Money, in violation of this provision.

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

Trump is planning to take over the U.S. Postal Service (mainly so he can undermine mail voting, which disfavors Republicans). Any Executive Order purporting to seize from Congress the power to regulate the Postal Service violates this provision.

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section. 9.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

The Trump regime imprisons non-criminal immigrants in the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where U.S. courts cannot issue Writs of Habeas Corpus. These prisoners have neither rebelled against nor invaded the United States, yet they are held indefinitely without trial, in violation of this provision.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

Congress has not appropriated any Money to fund the so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency. Any funds which the regime draws from the Treasury to pay DOGE expenses are disbursed in violation of this provision.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States:

Any time any officer of the United States proclaims Trump a king, they are violating this provision. This includes Trump’s own self-proclamations.

And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Trump has been violating this provision since day one of his first regime. Every time he makes a foreign diplomat stay in a Trump hotel while that diplomat is conducting official business in the U.S., Trump is accepting an unconstitutional Emolument from a foreign State.

Article. II.

Section. 1.

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Every time Trump violates a provision of the Constitution (as described in this indictment), he is also violating his Oath of Office.

Section. 2.

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

Elon Musk is exercising the authority of an Officer of the United States such as a Cabinet Secretary. Indeed, Musk purports to have an authority that greatly exceeds that of any other Secretary, for Musk’s so-called DOGE has made massive, illegal cuts to numerous actual Departments of the U.S. Government. But DOGE itself is a “department” in name only, for it was never created, authorized, or funded by Congress. Musk has never been appointed to any position “established by Law,” and he certainly has not been confirmed to any such post by the Senate. Musk’s lawless assault on the U.S. government is, among other things, a violation of the Appointments Clause.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Section. 3.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Trump takes Care that the Laws be faithlessly violated. Every Executive Order he signs violates at least one law of the United States. Most of his orders violate more than one federal law. Many violate this Constitution, the supreme law of the land.

Section. 4.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

In this provision, the word “shall” requires the House of Representatives, who hold the sole Power of Impeachment, to impeach the President for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Trump has committed all of these crimes. He has committed Treason by betraying the United States to enemies foreign (Russia) and domestic (January 6 insurrectionists). He frequently accepts bribes from business leaders, who pay up to $5 million to meet one-on-one with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where they learn what venal favors their millions have bought them. This indictment lists many “other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

Trump has repeatedly committed every single one of the impeachable offenses listed in this provision. Yet the House has made no move to impeach him. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson should be impeached and removed from office for this dereliction of Constitutional duty.

Article. III.

Section. 1.

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Vice President J. D. Vance denied the judicial Power of the Courts when he falsely claimed that “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” Trump denied the judicial Power of the Courts when he issued an executive order purporting to give the President exclusive power to “provide authoritative interpretations of the law for the executive branch.” Vance’s statement and Trump’s order both violate this provision.

Section. 3.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

For the past eight decades, every American President has recognized Russia as an Enemy of the United States. President Ronald Reagan famously called Russia an “evil empire.” Trump now openly adheres to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Trump freely gives Aid and Comfort to Putin and his agents. Trump made Russian intelligence asset Tulsi Gabbard Director of National Intelligence. Trump continues to betray our brave ally Ukraine. During his first term, Trump was impeached for illegally withholding aid that Congress had duly appropriated for Ukraine. Since he faced no consequences for that, he is now doing it again. Trump has betrayed our allies in NATO, putting American and European security at grave risk. He has done all of this to benefit his master, Putin. This shocking, ongoing betrayal of the American people clearly meets this provision’s definition of “Treason against the United States.”

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

Article. V.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Trump violated Article V during his first regime, when he refused to recognize the validity of Amendment XXVIII “to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution” after Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it on January 27, 2020.

Article. VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Trump routinely violates every aspect of this Supremacy Clause. Every Executive Order he issues violates one or more provisions of this Constitution. Every illegal directive to cut federal programs or fire federal employees violates the laws governing federal agencies. Most recently, Trump has threatened to cancel the entire Department of Education by executive fiat; this of course violates the Department of Education Organization Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law in 1979. Trump routinely violates Treaties made under the Authority of the United States. Most recently, the senseless tariffs that Trump has imposed on Canadian and Mexican goods violate the United States—Mexico—Canada Free Trade Agreement, which was signed into law by Trump himself in 2019.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.