Donald Trump Officially Charged In The Capitol Storming Case

The former US president is summoned to the federal court on 3 August.

Former US President Donald Trump was formally charged on Tuesday with a crime against the United States and its citizens - attempting to fraudulently overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, the BBC reports.

Trump is due to appear in court in Washington DC on Thursday 3 July.

Special prosecutor Jack Smith, who oversaw the investigation into the events of 6 January 2021, has indicted Trump on four counts:

Conspiracy to defraud the United States;

Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding;

Obstructing and Attempting to Obstruct Official Proceedings;

Conspiracy to violate civil rights.

This is the third and most serious of the criminal charges brought against Trump, who so far has said he intends to run for president again next year.

Two of the charges carry statutory penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

The text of the indictment, which was handed to a grand jury in a Washington, D.C., court, says Donald Trump was determined to remain in power after the 2020 election and "spread lies" claiming he had won it.

"These statements were false and the defendant knew them to be false," the document says.

In a statement, Trump's campaign team called the indictment another attempt to interfere in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump's associates claim that this criminal case against him is a "witch hunt" and reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

Trump himself, minutes before the new charges were officially announced, wrote on his own social media site Truth: "I hear the crazy Jack Smith is making another false accusation against your beloved President, me, in order to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election.

Jack Smith, in a brief statement to reporters after the indictment was handed to a Washington grand jury, said the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters on 6 January 2021 was instigated by "the defendant's lies, the purpose of which was to undermine the basic functioning of government in the United States".

Jack Smith promised to seek a speedy trial in the case, and concluded his statement by reminding that Donald Trump should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.