united-states criminal-law indictment
Under what legislation has former U.S. President Trump been indicted for &quot;conspiracy to defraud the US&quot;?
<p>It's reported by <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-66248859" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BBC News</a> that Mr Trump is charged with four counts, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>conspiracy to defraud the US</p>
</li>
<li><p>tampering with a witness</p>
</li>
<li><p>conspiracy against the rights of citizens</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Focusing on the first bullet point to avoid asking multiple questions<sup>1</sup>:</p>
<p><strong>What legislation introduces and/or covers the offence of defrauding the US?</strong></p>
<hr />
<p><sub><sup>1</sup>Although I would be interested in knowing more on the underlying legislation for a charge of conspiracy against the rights of citizens which I might post as a follow-up question</sub></p>

<p>Count 1: 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Conspiracy to Defraud United States)</p>
<p>Here the indictment's introduction alleges that Trump perpetrated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A conspiracy to to defraud the United States by using dishonesty,
fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal
government function by which the results of the presidential election
are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>temporary link to indictment pdf pending finding a better version: <a href="https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2023/08/trump-indictment.pdf" rel="noreferrer">https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2023/08/trump-indictment.pdf</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/371" rel="noreferrer">18 U.S.C. § 371 (Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute)</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If 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, each shall
be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or
both.</p>
<p>If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the
conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy
shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for such misdemeanor.</p>
</blockquote>
