An individual who has been trying to stop former President Donald Trump from appearing on 2024 ballots has been indicted.
Fox News reports that John Anthony Castro's indictment was announced on Wednesday.
This is the same Castro who is running as a Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election. In other words, he is one of Trump's Republican rivals.
"Rivals," however, is probably not the right word, for it would be an understatement to call Castro a "longshot" candidate, and, with this indictment, the chances are that his odds of winning just got even longer.
Castro is now facing nearly three dozen tax-related charges.
Fox reports:
Castro, 40, of Mansfield, Texas, was indicted on 33 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false and fraudulent return, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton announced on Wednesday. Court records show the indictment was filed under seal on Jan. 3.
The Hill provides further information.
According to the outlet, prosecutors allege, "Castro would promise a significantly higher refund than taxpayers could receive from other preparers and, on many occasions, offered to split the additional refund with taxpayers. In order to achieve these larger refunds, Castro generated false deductions, that were not based in fact, and which were submitted without the taxpayer’s knowledge.
Castro was caught in this scheme by an undercover police officer who pretended to be a customer.
It just so happens that Castro was indicted on the same day that his attempt to have Trump removed from New Hampshire 2024 ballots failed.
Castro is among those individuals who are trying to claim that Trump is precluded from running for the presidency in 2024 under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
This section, essentially, prohibits individuals from holding public office who took a certain oath and who "engaged in insurrection." The argument is that Trump took such an oath when he became president and that he "engaged in insurrection" on Jan. 6, 2021.
Castro is trying to get Trump removed from the ballot in no less than 27 states. Thus far, he has lost in New Hampshire, Florida, and Nevada, and it does not appear as though any of his other claims are really gaining any traction.
Regarding the tax charges, Castro claims that he is innocent. He said, "I don’t care if they offered me one day of probation and a slap on the wrist in exchange for a guilty plea. This is going to trial. I am going to convince all 12 jurors that I am 100 percent innocent and that this is political retaliation."
