Special Counsel Jack Smith announces indictment against Donald Trump in Jan 6 probe
Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in court today to be formally arraigned on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election, in what marks his third – and potentially most serious – criminal case.
The former president was indicted on four charges by a grand jury hearing evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation in efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the January 6 Capitol riot. The indictment also described six unnamed co-conspirators, now believed to be identified.
Mr Trump has been ordered to make an initial appearance in federal court in Washington DC on Thursday, while the case has been assigned to US district judge Tanya Chutkan, a Barack Obama-appointee.
Mr Trump has railed against the indictment and is calling for the “fake” case to be moved from Washington DC.
In a late-night Truth Social rant on Wednesday, the former president fumed that it is “IMPOSSIBLE to get a fair trial” in the capital and demanded it be relocated to “the politically unbiased nearby State of West Virginia”.
This is Mr Trump’s third criminal indictment and his second federal indictment.
Read Trump’s indictment from the January 6 grand jury in full
