Donald Trump has been indicted once again, this time for his failed effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Four felony charges were brought against the former US president and 2024 hopeful, following an investigation into his actions after the 2020 election, headed by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Mr Trump has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy against rights and two counts of conspiring to obstruct and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding.

Mr Trump and others organised fraudulent slates of electors in seven states, all of which he lost, to submit their votes to be counted and certified as official by Congress on January 6, the indictment said.

The indictment is just the latest in Mr Trump’s legal woes and is the third time he has been indicted.

Other charges

In April, Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts accusing him of falsifying business records concerning a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said she had with him.

Mr Trump has denied the encounter.

He was also charged in June over his unlawful retention of classified government documents after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing justice.

Also, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating whether Mr Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in Georgia.

She has signalled that any indictments in the case will likely come in August.

Trump defiant

Mr Trump remains defiant in the face of the latest indictment, and insinuated the charges were being laid to interfere with his presidential campaign.

“I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favourite President, me, at 5:00 P.M,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!”

Donald Trump faces four charges in relation to the 2020 election and insurrection.

Why do the new charges matter?

The world watched on in horror when insurrectionists marched on the capitol on January 6, 2021, to try to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.

The deadly and violent assault came after Mr Trump gave a fiery speech to his loyal followers.

In his brief media address following the announcement of the indictment on Wednesday (AEST), Mr Smith laid the blame for the insurrection on Mr Trump.

“The attack on our nation’s capital on January 6th, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fuelled by lies – lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the US government,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Trump and his followers will likely insist the charges are politically motivated and merely a witch hunt.

Speaking to NPR, law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, Carl Tobias said the allegation of interference “cut to the heart of democracy”.

The indictment makes clear that Mr Trump knew the claims he was making were false and were lies.

It’s also significant because it is the first time the former president is facing charges relating to his efforts to overturn the election.

Tweet from @AdamKinzinger

Who are the co-conspirators?

The co-conspirators were not named in the indictment.

However, using quotes from the document and context, CNN has named five of the alleged co-conspirators:

1. Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s former lawyer
2. John Eastman, Mr Trump’s former lawyer “who masterminded the plan to appoint false electors”
3. Sidney Powell, Mr Trump’s former lawyer
4. Jeffrey Clark, former Justice Department official who Mr Trump once hoped could be installed as acting attorney general to help overturn the election
5. Kenneth Chesebro, a “pro-Trump lawyer” who was in contact with Mr Giuliani and helped submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the election certification process, is not known.

The sixth co-conspirator could not be identified by CNN, but the indictment states it is a political consultant.

Although the co-conspirators are mentioned, Mr Trump is the sole defendant.

Can Trump still run for president?

Mr Trump is the frontrunner in the bloated Republican primary. You would think the latest charges might lead to his popularity taking a dip, but he remains well ahead of Ron DeSantis.

Despite the charges, Mr Trump can still run for president.

Facing criminal charges or even serving prison time do not bar someone from running for US president, or becoming president.

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Mr Smith is hoping for a speedy trial, but it is probably unlikely everything will be neatly wrapped up before the Republican nomination.

According to the Washington Post, several advocacy groups have said they will try to disqualify Mr Trump from running.

“The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in the aftermath of the Civil War, includes a provision that no one can hold a seat in Congress, or ‘any office, civil or military,’ if they ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion’,” the Washington Post reported.

What do his political rivals think?

Mr DeSantis, who is coming in second to Mr Trump, didn’t take aim at his former friend and while he admitted he had not read the indictment, he made some pretty bold promises.

“As president, I will end the weaponisation of government, replace the FBI director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans,” he wrote on Twitter.

He said Washington DC was a “swamp” and it was “unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality”.

Tweet from @RonDeSantis

Mike Pence, who was Mr Trump’s vice-president, distanced himself from Mr Trump after lies about the election started to spread and made it clear he does not think Mr Trump should be in office.

“Our country is more important than one man. Our constitution is more important than any one man’s career,” Mr Pence said.

“On January 6th, former president Trump demanded that I choose between him and the constitution. I chose the constitution and I always will.”

Asa Hutchinson has once again said he believes Mr Trump should not be allowed to run for president.

Tweet from @Mike_Pence

Who is assigned to Trump’s case?

DC District Judge Tanya Chutkan has been assigned to this case and she has a reputation of being tough on insurrectionists.

In most of the cases involving January 6 rioters, Judge Chutkan handed down punishments that exceeded the prosecutors’ recommendations.

“It has to be made clear that trying to violently overthrow the government, trying to stop the peaceful transition of power and assaulting law enforcement officers in that effort is going to be met with absolutely certain punishment,” she once said, while sentencing an insurrectionist, according to the Associated Press.

Mr Trump will make his first appearance at Washington Federal Court on August 3.