Donald Trump is due in federal court within hours to answer to charges he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, facing a judge near the United States Capitol building that his supporters stormed to try to block the peaceful transfer of power.
In what’s become a familiar but nonetheless stunning ritual, Trump is expected to be processed by law enforcement, formally taken into custody and enter a not guilty plea in front of a judge before being released, enabling him to rejoin the campaign trail as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024.
The charges could lead to a years-long prison sentence in the event of a conviction.
Law enforcement officials ramped up security outside the courthouse on Thursday, including by setting up barricades.
The Republican former president was the only person charged in the case, though prosecutors referenced six unnamed co-conspirators, mostly lawyers, they say he plotted with, including in a scheme to enlist fake electors in seven battleground states won by Democrat Joe Biden to submit false certificates to the federal government.
The indictment chronicles how Trump and his Republican allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a “bedrock function of the US government”, repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power.
This is the third criminal case brought against Trump in less than six months.
He was charged in New York with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Smith’s office also has charged him with 40 felony counts in Florida, accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents at his Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago, and refusing government demands to give them back.
He has pleaded not guilty in both those cases, which are set for trial next year.
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Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, are expected in coming weeks to announce charging decisions in an investigation into efforts to subvert election results in that state.
Trump’s lawyer John Lauro has asserted in television interviews that Trump’s actions were protected by the First Amendment right to free speech and that he relied on the advice of lawyers.
Trump has claimed without evidence that Smith’s team is trying to interfere with the 2024 presidential election, in which Trump is the early front-runner to claim the Republican nomination.
Smith said in a rare public statement this week that he was seeking a speedy trial, though Lauro has said he intends to slow the case down so that the defence team can conduct its own investigation.
The arraignment will be handled before US Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadyaha, who joined the bench last year.
But going forward, the case will be presided over by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of President Barack Obama who has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of the Capitol rioters.
Chutkan has also ruled against Trump before, refusing in November 2021 to block the release of documents to the US House’s January 6 committee by asserting executive privilege.
January 6: The day that rattled American democracy
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