Trump faces criminal charges for efforts to overturn 2020 election

Former US President Donald Trump has been criminally indicted for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, with prosecutors accusing the Republican politician of attempting to obstruct “a bedrock function” of democracy in order to cling on to power.
The 45-page indictment, filed in Washington, DC, on Tuesday by Special Counsel Jack Smith detailed four felony charges against Trump, some of which carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
Trump has been accused of attempting to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 race.
They include one count of conspiracy to defraud the US, one count of conspiracy against rights, one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and one count of obstructing an official proceeding.
The former president was ordered to make an initial appearance in federal court in Washington on Thursday. Trump’s co-conspirators were not named, but based on the descriptions, they appear to include Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who called state lawmakers in the weeks following the 2020 election to pressure them not to certify their states’ results.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro reports from Washington, DC.

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