Former US President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington on Thursday to face new charges against him for the third time in 4 months. The Trump campaign saw it as an attempt to interfere in the upcoming presidential election and political persecution of him.
As part of an investigation, special counsel Jack Smith accused Trump of seeking to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democratic rival Joe Biden.
In a brief statement to reporters on Tuesday, Smith held Trump directly responsible for the storming of the Capitol on the sixth of January, considering the attack an explicit and direct targeting of the "symbol of democracy" in the country, pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations of holding other individuals who participated in that day, but not included in this list so far.
Smith said his office would request that Trump's trial be expeditious, as investigations continue to hold accountable other individuals involved in the storming of the Capitol who were not included in the list.
The indictment alleges that six people, whose names have not been revealed, have conspired with Trump to keep him in power.
Multiple charges
The charges come at a time when the Republican billionaire is campaigning to return to his former position during next year's election and at a time when he is leading the race for the Republican nomination.
In the 45-page court document, prosecutors allege a coordinated conspiracy across several U.S. states in which Trump and his allies made claims they knew were untrue in a desperate attempt to undermine American democracy and cling to power, so over the course of two months after the 2020 election, he published what the document called lies about fraud that changed the outcome.
The indictment also indicates that these allegations were false, and the defendant (Trump) knew they were false, but he repeated and disseminated them widely despite everything.
Trump's response
In response to the accusations, the Trump campaign said the former president had always followed the law, calling the indictment a political "persecution" reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
Trump said on Tuesday he expected Smith to indict him again.
In a post on his platform Truth Social, Trump said, "I have heard that the psychopath Jack Smith, in order to interfere in the 2024 presidential election, will make a new false accusation against your favorite president, me."
The accusations were "a desperate decision by Biden, who is falling behind in the polls," he said, adding that he had done nothing "wrong" and my request to Americans to act peacefully and not to resort to violence was documented.
It is the most serious charge against Trump, who is being prosecuted for handling classified documents after leaving the White House and a case of suspicious payments to a former actress.
The trouble may not end there for Trump, as a Georgia state prosecutor is due to announce by the end of August the outcome of her investigation into suspected pressure by Trump to try to change the outcome of the state's 2020 presidential election.