Trump election probe court files criminal charges

Washington, Aug 15

A court in the US state of Georgia investigating former President Donald Trump's alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, has filed criminal charges but it remains unclear if he has been indicted, the media reported on Tuesday.

An indictment against Trump would mark the fourth time he has been criminally charged this year. He has pleaded not guilty in all cases, reports the BBC.

Late Monday night, a clerk at the Fulton County court in Atlanta said the grand jury had returned 10 indictments -- without specifying any of the charges in the sprawling inquiry.

Reporters stayed at the court waiting for the clerk to process a stack of criminal charges, as speculation mounted that the former President himself had been indicted.

In February 2021, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had launched the investigation into allegations of election meddling against Trump and his associates.

Trump, currently the frontrunner in the Republican Party's race to pick its next candidate for the 2024 presidential election, has said the investigation by Willis, a Democrat, was politically motivated.

In a statement earlier on Monday, the Trump campaign described the district attorney as a "rabid partisan" who had filed "these bogus indictments" to interfere with the 2024 race and "damage the dominant Trump campaign".

"This latest co-ordinated strike by a biased prosecutor in an overwhelmingly Democrat jurisdiction not only betrays the trust of the American people, but also exposes the true motivation driving their fabricated accusations," the BBC quoted the statement as saying.

Meanwhile, Trump has already been charged by federal prosecutors in Washington D.C. with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to incumbent President Joe Biden.

That charge sheet devoted significant time to the Trump team's activities in Georgia.

Willis' investigation focuses specifically on Georgia, a key battleground state for the US presidency that Trump narrowly lost.

In January 2021, Trump was recorded on a phone call asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" 11,780 votes, the number he would have required to beat Biden in that state.

At least eight "fake electors", who signed a bogus certificate claiming Trump won the election in that state, have reached immunity deals in the case after agreeing to interviews with Fulton County prosecutors.