Trump indictment live: Trump reacts as he and 18 allies charged over 41-count Georgia election plot

Donald Trump and 18 others charged in Monday’s indictment face a slew of charges, including racketeering, violating the oath of a public officer, forgery, false statements and other offences.

Here’s a list of all 19 defendants who must all surrender to authorities by 25 August:

The fourth indictment of former president Donald Trump may be the most sweeping yet.
The sprawling, 98-page case unveiled on Monday opens up fresh legal ground and exposes more than a dozen of Mr Trump’s allies to new jeopardy.

But it also raises familiar legal issues of whether the First Amendment allows a politician to try to overturn an election. Already, Mr Trump and his supporters are alleging the indictment is the product of a politicised, corrupt process to hobble him as he competes for the GOP nomination to face president Joe Biden next year.

Here are some takeaways from Monday’s indictment:

Former president Donald Trump appeared on Fox News following his fourth indictment in Georgia, and vowed to win the next year’s presidential election to “Make America Great Again”.

Mr Trump and 18 of his allies have been indicted on a total of 41 counts for trying to change the outcome of Georgia’s vote in the 2020 presidential election. It is his fourth criminal indictment in less than five months.

Speaking on Fox, the former president described his legal woes as coming during a “dark period for our country”.

“Nineteen people were indicted, and the whole world is laughing at the United States as they see how corrupt and horrible a place it has turned out to be under the leadership of crooked Joe Biden,” Mr Trump told Fox News Digital late on Monday night.

“The racist and corrupt district attorney of Fulton County, which has turned out to be a murder capital of the world with among the highest violent crime levels anywhere in our country, just opened a fundraising site in order to benefit off the things she most campaigned on, ‘I will get Donald Trump,’” he said, targeting Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis.

Repeating his characterisation of the legal cases against him, Mr Trump said the Georgia grand jury indictment “is a continuation of the greatest and longest-running witch hunt in American history”.

Former president Donald Trump inflated attendance numbers of his appearance at the Iowa State Fair, saying he had a record attendance for his campaign stop.

Mr Trump gave a press conference at the fairgrounds in Des Moines that was broadcast by Real America’s Voice.

“It’s a real honour to be here,” he said. “We have a record that was set. The record is the largest crowd they’ve ever had and I can see that because you can’t get any more people here. I’m very honoured by it, tremendous thing.”

Donald Trump has already been indicted three times this year, twice at the federal level.

In April, he was arraigned in New York and pleaded not guilty to state charges after receiving an indictment from Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg accusing him of manipulating his business records to conceal hush money payments allegedly made to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 to stop her discussing an extramarital affair they are said to have had in 2006 in time to derail his presidential run.

Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith then handed him a federal indictment in May over his alleged mishandling of classified government documents following the conclusion of his one-term presidency and then another in August over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, accusing him of conspiracy to defraud the United States, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.

Donald Trump has responded to his fourth criminal indictment on Truth Social this morning, terming it a “witch hunt” by an “out of control and very corrupt district attorney”.

“So, the Witch Hunt continues! 19 people Indicated [sic] tonight, including the former President of the United States, me, by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump’. And what about those Indictment Documents put out today, long before the Grand Jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn?” the former president wrote.

“Sounds Rigged to me! Why didn’t they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!”

Donald Trump is now the subject of four criminal cases – at a time when he is hot on the trail of another stint in the White House.

But could the former president still be able to legally assume the Oval Office again?

In short, yes. Here’s why:

Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations, or RICO, law has been the key to getting Donald Trump and more than a dozen others indicted for attempts to subvert 2020 presidential election results.

But how does the law, typically associated with organized crime, apply in this case? Alex Woodward explains here.

Since leaving the White House, Donald Trump has continued to face a cloud of lawsuits and investigations, which could frustrate his hopes to win back the presidency in 2024.

Now the former president has been indicted on 13 criminal charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

It is the fourth time the ex-president has been charged in a criminal indictment this year.

Here’s what you need to know about all the major investigations and lawsuits against Mr Trump and where they stand:

Following Donald Trump’s latest indictment, speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote in a social media post that the Biden administration “has weaponised government” against its political opponent ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

“Justice should be blind, but Biden has weaponised government against his leading political opponent to interfere in the 2024 election,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Now a radical DA in Georgia is following Biden’s lead by attacking President Trump and using it to fundraise her political career. Americans see through this desperate sham.”