Trump shares ominous video ahead of arraignment on 2020 election charges – live

Donald Trump will make another new court appearance on Thursday – this time charged with plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat in a case his lawyers say is a deliberate bid to disrupt his 2024 presidential election campaign.

The former president is accused of four counts including conspiracy to defraud the United States, tampering with a witness, and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.

It is the culmination of inquiries into the 6 January, 2021 riot at the US Capitol in Washington DC.

Alistair Jamieson reports.

While the former president is the only person charged, the indictment refers to six co-conspirators who worked with him to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The six individuals – four attorneys, one Justice Department official and one political consultant – have not been named in the charging documents because they have not yet been charged with any crimes.

However, based on the details in the indictment and records already known about the events leading up to the Capitol riot, the identities of five of the six co-conspirators are clear, though there are hints as to who the sixth may be.

The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg is reporting from the courthouse in Washington DC.

As of 8am ET, the line to enter the building was already snaking out the door.

Read the latest from Eric Garcia reporting for The Independent from Washington, DC.

Former president Barack Obama privately warned President Joe Biden that Donald Trump’s rabid supporter base and the echo-chamber of conservative media give the twice-impeached, thrice-indicted ex-president a strength heading into next year’s election that should not be underestimated.

According to the Washington Post, Mr Obama delivered the candid advice to his former vice president during a late June lunch in the White House residence, at which he promised Mr Biden that he would “do all he could” to aide his re-election campaign.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Security has ramped up in Washington DC as Donald Trump prepares to return to the alleged scene of the crime to face charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot.

The former president is scheduled to appear for his arraignment at 4pm ET on Thursday afternoon at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington DC – just a few blocks away from the US Capitol where a mob of his supporters staged a violent insurrection to try to overthrow democracy back on 6 January 2021.

Metal barricades were seen being erected outside the courthouse on Wednesday night while the Secret Service confirmed that it is working with multiple law enforcement agencies to “ensure the highest levels of safety and security”.

Within two hours after he was criminally charged for his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, a political action committee connected to Donald Trump’s campaign sent out two fundraising emails to supporters.

One message – sent from the “Official Trump Store” – advertises a “limited-edition” commemorative “I Stand with Trump” T-shirt that includes the date of the latest indictment against him.

Donald Trump is demanding that his “fake” criminal case over his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election be moved out of Washington DC to “unbiased” West Virginia.

In a late-night Truth Social rant on Wednesday, the former president fumed that it is “IMPOSSIBLE to get a fair trial” in the capital and demanded it be relocated to “the politically unbiased nearby State of West Virginia”.

“The latest Fake “case” brought by Crooked Joe Biden & Deranged Jack Smith will hopefully be moved to an impartial Venue, such as the politically unbiased nearby State of West Virginia!” he wrote.

“IMPOSSIBLE to get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., which is over 95% anti-Trump, & for which I have called for a Federal TAKEOVER in order to bring our Capital back to Greatness.

One of the few Republican senators who voted to convict former president Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial for his role in the January 6 riot, said that the latest indictment showed the former president played an “active role” in instigating the chaos.

Eric Garcia reports from Capitol Hill.