FORMER US President Donald Trump has been charged with plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
He is accused of four counts including conspiracy to defraud the US, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.
The indictment caps an inquiry into events surrounding the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
Mr Trump, 77, who is again running for president, denies wrongdoing. On social media he called the case “ridiculous”.
The Republican politician has already been charged in two other cases: with mishandling classified files and falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to a porn star.
The election investigation has focused on Mr Trump’s actions in the two-month period between his loss to Joe Biden and the riot in Washington DC, where his supporters stormed Congress as lawmakers certified the Democrat’s victory.
The man leading the inquiry, special counsel Jack Smith, said: “The attack on our nation’s capital on January 6 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.
“As described in the indictment it was fuelled by lies.”
Mr Smith wrapped up his brief statement by pledging to seek “a speedy trial”, while emphasising that the former president “must be assumed innocent until proven guilty”.
Mr Trump is due to appear in court on Thursday in Washington DC.
The 45-page indictment lists six unnamed co-conspirators: four lawyers, a justice department official and a political consultant.
The court document accuses Mr Trump of a “conspiracy to impair, obstruct, and defeat the federal government function through dishonesty, fraud and deceit”.
