Former US President Donald Trump has been charged with conspiracy to overturn his election defeat in 2020.


He is charged with four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, interfering with a witness, and conspiracy against citizens' rights.

The indictment concludes an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the January 6, 2021 violence at the US Capitol.

Mr. Trump, 77, who is running for president again, denies any misconduct. He termed the lawsuit "ridiculous" on social media.

He is previously accused of mishandling secret materials and falsifying business documents to conceal a hush-money payment to a porn star.

The election probe has concentrated on Mr. Trump's conduct during the two-month period between his defeat and the violence in Washington, DC, in which his supporters rushed Congress as lawmakers confirmed Democratic President Joe Biden's victory.

"The attack on our nation's capital on January 6, 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy," stated US Justice Department-appointed special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday evening.

"As described in the indictment, it was fuelled by lies."

Four key conclusions from Trump's indictment

Mr Smith concluded his brief statement by committing to seek "a speedy trial," emphasizing that the former president "must be presumed innocent until proven guilty."

Mr. Trump is scheduled to appear in court in Washington, DC on Thursday.

Six unnamed co-conspirators are mentioned in the 45-page indictment: four lawyers, a Justice Department official, and a political consultant.

Mr Trump is accused of a "conspiracy to impair, obstruct, and defeat the federal government function through dishonesty, fraud, and deceit" in the court papers.

Prosecutors said, in response to Mr. Trump's allegations of voter fraud in 2020, that "these claims were false and the defendant knew that they were false."

They also claim that Mr Trump attempted and failed to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to obstruct Mr Biden's certification as president on January 6, 2021.

"As violence erupted, the Defendant and co-conspirators capitalized on the disruption by redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and persuade members of Congress to postpone certification based on those claims."

The indictment also names numerous US officials and senior Trump campaign officials who, according to the indictment, advised the outgoing president that he had lost and there was no evidence of voter fraud.

Mr. Trump, who now faces 78 felony counts in three separate investigations, is currently the Republican Party's frontrunner in the race to select its next presidential nominee.

In November 2024, whoever wins will face the Democratic nominee, who is projected to be Vice President Joe Biden.

Despite his legal problems, Trump's popularity continues to grow.
The Trump team argued in a statement that the indictment on Tuesday amounted to electoral meddling.

"The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes," the campaign claimed.

It went on to say, "These un-American witch hunts will fail."

As part of the probe, dozens of top Trump administration officials and advisers were interrogated, including former Vice President Pence and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Prosecutors in Georgia are also looking into the former president on similar grounds, including if he illegally coerced officials there to overturn Mr Biden's election triumph.

Prosecutors in Atlanta are scheduled to decide whether to prosecute Mr Trump this month.

Republicans in other states are also being probed for allegedly assisting Mr. Trump's efforts to prevent Mr. Biden from assuming office.

On Tuesday, state prosecutors in Michigan charged a former Republican attorney general candidate and another Trump supporter with interfering with voting equipment in an attempt to prove that Mr Trump lost because of widespread voter fraud.

The congressional riot resulted in Mr. Trump's second impeachment in the House of Representatives - making him the first US president ever to be impeached twice.