1st LD Writethru: Trump indicted over 2020 election interference in Georgia

 WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) 

 Former U.S. President Donald Trump was indicted in Georgia on Monday over his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state, local media reported.

 It's the fourth criminal case to be brought against the former president.

 Trump and 18 others were criminally charged in the southeastern U.S. state in connection with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, reported The Washington Post, one of the leading newspapers in the country, citing an indictment made public late Monday night.

Trump was charged with 13 counts, including violating the state's racketeering act, soliciting a public officer to violate their oath, conspiring to impersonate a public officer, conspiring to commit forgery in the first degree, and conspiring to file false documents.

 The indictment follows a two-and-a-half-year investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The probe was launched after audio leaked from a January 2021 phone call during which Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to question the validity of thousands of ballots, especially in the heavily Democratic Atlanta area. Trump said he wanted to "find" the votes to erase his 2020 loss in the state, according to the report.

 In total, there are 41 charges brought against 19 defendants in the 98-page indictment. Among those charged are Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who served as Trump's personal attorney after the election, Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; and several Trump advisers, including attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, who were architects of a scheme to create slates of alternate Trump electors, said the report.