Trump charged in US special counsel probe in efforts to overturn 2020 election

Donald Trump on Tuesday was hit with criminal charges for a third time in four months - this time arising from efforts to overturn his 2020 U.S. election defeat - as he campaigns to regain the presidency next year.

The four-count indictment alleges Trump conspired to defraud the U.S. by preventing Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory and to deprive voters of their right to a fair election.

Trump was ordered to make an initial appearance in federal court on Thursday.

The charges stem from Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into allegations Trump - the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination - sought to reverse his loss to Biden, his Democratic rival.

The indictment alleges Trump conspired with six other unnamed individuals to overturn the results. Prosecutors wrote that Trump knew his claims that the election was fraudulent were false, but repeated them anyway to "create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger and erode public faith in the administration of the election."