Donald Trump has been charged with 11 crimes in connection with his alleged attempt to overturn the presidential election result in Georgia in 2020.
Prosecutors filed the charges on Monday, accusing the former president of racketeering, violating an oath of office, among other crimes.
Also indicted were Trump associates Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman.
The charges mean Mr Trump faces a fourth criminal trial as he prepares to run for election again in next year’s presidential race.
Already he has been charged in New York, in the so-called “hush money” case, in Washington DC over his actions after the 2020 election in connection with the January 6 Capitol riots, and in Florida over allegations he mishandled confidential documents.
Mr Trump has always denied he acted improperly in Georgia in the aftermath of the election, as he sought to overturn the result in the state after narrowly losing the vote to Joe Biden.
The indictment could lead to the first televised trial of a former president, a watershed moment in US history, and feature “Rico” racketeering charges typically used to bring down mobsters.
Mr Trump has posted a number of messages to his Truth Social platform calling the matter “ridiculous” and urging a local election official whom he identified by name and called a “loser” not to testify to the grand jury.
“THOSE WHO RIGGED & STOLE THE ELECTION WERE THE ONES DOING THE TAMPERING, & THEY ARE THE SLIME THAT SHOULD BE PROSECUTED,” he said.
Some of the charges are linked to the now-infamous phone call Mr Trump placed to Georgia officials asking them to “find” exactly the number of votes he would have needed to overturn his defeat to Mr Biden.