Trump indicted over 2020 election meddling in Georgia, the fourth criminal case against him

Former US President Donald Trump was hit with a fourth set of criminal charges on Monday when a Georgia grand jury issued an indictment accusing him of efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

The charges, brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, add to the legal woes facing Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

The case — relying on laws typically used to bring down mobsters — could lead to a watershed moment, the first televised trial of a former president in US history.

Prosecutors brought 11 counts against Trump and his associates, including forgery and racketeering, which is used to target members of organized crime groups.

Prosecutors charged 18 other people, including Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman.

The case stems from a January 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump urged Georgia's top election official, Brad Raffensperger, to 'find' enough votes to reverse his narrow loss in the state. Raffensperger declined to do so.

Four days later, on January 6, 2021, and two weeks before Trump was due to leave office, his supporters stormed the US Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent lawmakers from certifying Biden's victory.

Willis also investigated an alleged scheme by the Trump campaign to subvert the US electoral process by submitting false slates of electors, people who make up the Electoral College that elects the president and vice president.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and accuses Willis, an elected Democrat, of being politically motivated.

The court briefly posted a document on its website earlier on Monday listing several felony charges against Trump, but quickly removed it without explanation. Willis's office said at the time no charges had been filed and declined further comment.

Trump has already pleaded not guilty in three criminal cases.

He faces a New York state trial beginning on March 25, 2024, involving a hush money payment to an adult star, and a Florida trial beginning on May 20 in a federal classified documents case. In both cases, Trump pleaded not guilty.

A third indictment, in Washington federal court, accuses him of illegally seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump denies wrongdoing in this case as well, and a trial date has yet to be set.

Georgia, once reliably Republican, has emerged as one of a handful of politically competitive states that can determine the outcome of presidential elections.

Trump persists in falsely claiming he won the November 2020 election although dozens of court cases and state probes have found no evidence to support his claim.

Not hurting his campaign

Strategists said that while the indictments could bolster Republican support for Trump, they may hurt him in next year's general election, when he will have to win over more independent-minded voters.

His lead over Republican presidential rivals has widened since the New York charges were filed in April, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

But in a July Reuters/Ipsos poll, 37 per cent of independents said the criminal cases made them less likely to vote for him, compared to 8 per cent who said they were more likely to do so.

Willis's investigation drew on testimony from Trump advisers including Giuliani, who urged state lawmakers in December 2020 not to certify the election, and allies like Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, who asked state officials to examine absentee ballots following Trump's loss.

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