Former US President Donald Trump Indicted On Four Charges Over 2020 US Election

Former US president Donald Trump has been indicted on four charges related to alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.

Mr Trump is the first current or former president in US history to face criminal charges. 

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He was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

The indictment lists six co-conspirators who played a central role in overturning the legitimate results of the election against Joe Biden.

The 45-page indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury in Washington DC on Tuesday, alleging that Mr Trump repeatedly lied about the presidential election.

Prosecutors cited an example in Georgia, where Mr Trump said more than 10,000 dead people voted in four days after the state’s top election official said that was not true.

According to Special Counsel Jack Smith, the indictment is only an allegation, and the defendant must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

“This case is brought consistent with that commitment, and our investigation of other individuals continues. In this case, my office will seek a speedy trial so that our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens,” Mr Smith said.

He says that prosecutors will present their evidence to an “impartial group of citizens called a grand jury” for potential felony charges which Mr Trump is facing.

“A grand jury may decide not to charge an individual based upon the evidence, no indictment would come from the grand jury,” he said.

“All proceedings and statements made before a grand jury are sealed, meaning that only the people in the room have knowledge about who said what about whom,” he added.

“The grand jury is a constitutional requirement for certain types of crimes (meaning it is written in the United States Constitution) so that a group of citizens who do not know the defendant can make an unbiased decision about the evidence before voting to charge an individual with a crime” .

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