Trump in court to try to overturn 2020 election result

Former US President Donald Trump accused his successor, Joe Biden, of using the justice system as a "weapon" against him, just hours before his court appearance in Washington to face charges related to criminal maneuvers aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential elections.

As Trump is campaigning to return to the White House, he claimed that Biden directed the Department of Justice to charge him with "the greatest crimes that can be fabricated" to force him to spend time and money defending himself instead of using those resources for his election campaign.

Using the social platform Truth Social, Trump stated, "Democrats don't want me as a candidate against them, or else they wouldn't have used the justice system as a weapon in this unprecedented manner," and emphasized, "Soon, in 2024, our turn will come."

Following this, the former president wrote a series of messages on the platform saying, "I am now heading to Washington to be arrested for challenging the corrupt, forged, and stolen elections."

He continued, "It is a great honor because I am being arrested for you. Make America great again."

Trump served as the US president between 2017 and 2021, and he seeks to return to the White House by running in the upcoming presidential elections.

On Thursday, the former president was summoned to appear before a federal court in Washington.

The 45-page indictment, published on Tuesday, notably indicates the existence of a "criminal scheme" and accuses him of undermining the foundations of American democracy by attempting to change the vote counting process of more than 150 million Americans. 

These charges are unprecedented and the most serious Trump has faced, as he was the president at the time of the alleged offenses.

Conversely, the two previous criminal cases filed against him this year, relating to fraud associated with the purchase of silence of a pornographic film actress, and endangering national security by mishandling classified documents, respectively, concern the period preceding and following his presidency.

The court where Trump will be charged is near the Capitol, the headquarters of the US Congress, which was stormed by hundreds of his supporters on January 6, 2021, to prevent the certification of his rival Joe Biden's victory.

Following the issuance of the new indictment against Trump, Special Investigator Jack Smith, who oversaw the investigation, stated that this attack was "encouraged by lies" propagated by the accused over several months, claiming that there were supposed election frauds in favor of Biden.

Hours before the scheduled session at 4:00 pm on Thursday (8:00 pm GMT), cameras and satellite trucks of local and international media outlets filled the square in front of the court, attracting the attention of passersby and tourists.

Security barricades were set up around the court building, and similar measures were taken around the nearby Capitol building.

Since the early hours of the morning, about a hundred journalists lined up to enter the court, while security checkpoints were installed around the building, and the same measures were taken around the Capitol building.

For his part, President Biden has remained silent regarding Trump's legal crises.

In Delaware, where he is spending his vacation, when asked if he will follow Trump's court appearance, Biden responded briefly, saying, "No."



AFP