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Trump faces charges over Georgia election

Former US President Donald Trump has been charged, along with 18 other defendants, with conspiring to unlawfully change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Trump (pictured) lost the state narrowly to Democratic candidate and current US President Joe Biden.

An indictment filed by Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis lists 41 charges against the 19 defendants, who include former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former White House lawyer John Eastman.

The indictment alleges that the 19 “knowingly and wilfully joined conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favour of Trump”.

Racketeering charge

It says that the 19 people named constituted "a criminal organisation", and accuses them of engaging in activities that included “false statements and writings, impersonating public officer, forgery, filing false documents, influencing witnesses, computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, acts involving theft, and perjury”.

The most serious of the 13 charges facing Trump – violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act – is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison.

In a statement, the Trump campaign described Willis as a "rabid partisan" who had filed "these bogus indictments" to interfere with the 2024 presidential race and "damage the dominant Trump campaign".