Donald Trump indicted over efforts to subvert 2020 elections
Former US president Donald Trump was indicted for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
A federal grand jury charged Trump on four counts on Tuesday (August 1). They are: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
The unsealed indictment says the former US president "was determined to stay in power" and "spread lies" saying he had won in order to overturn the election.
"These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false."
Trump summoned to appear in Washington court
The Republican presidential hopeful has now been summoned to appear in a Washington DC court on Thursday at 16:00 local time before Judge Moxila Upadhyaya.
Minutes before the ruling, Trump on his Truth Social media platform said that he had heard to expect an indictment.
"I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President (sic)," he wrote.
This is the second time in two months, and third overall, that the Republican leader has been indicted in the criminal investigation by special counsel Jack Smith.
Jack Smith says will seek speedy trial
After the indictment, Smith addressed the media saying that the "attack on our nation's capitol on January 6 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy".
He said that the attack on the US Capitol was "fuelled by lies, lies by the defendant targeted at disrupting a bedrock function of the United States government".
Smith further said that the Department of Justice “will seek a speedy trial."
Concluding his brief statement, Smith insisted that the former president "must be assumed innocent until proven guilty".
Trump is already scheduled to appear in two separate trials next year, during the 2024 election season.
In June, Trump was charged with the retention of classified documents and conspiracy with a top aide to hide them from the government and his own attorneys.
In March, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on state charges of falsifying business records.
Trump's legal team blasts Smith
Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team condemned the charges calling the recent indictment "the latest corrupt chapter" to meddle with the 2024 presidential elections.
The statement says that the fresh charges are part of "un-American witch hunts" and adds "the lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany", and blamed a "weaponised" Department of Justice.
