Donald Trump faced a new raft of felony charges after a Georgia grand jury used a law developed to take down organized crime gangs to charge the former US president with trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The charges, brought late on Monday by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, charge Trump, the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination and 18 associates for a scheme intended to reverse his loss to US President Joe Biden.

The sprawling 98-page indictment listed 19 defendants and 41 criminal counts in all. All the defendants were charged with racketeering, which is used to target members of organized crime groups and carries a minimum penalty of 5 years in prison.

Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and John Eastman were among those charged.

Georgia grand jury probing Trump's election subversion returns indictment. – Reuters

"Rather than abide by Georgia's legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's presidential election result," Willis said at a press conference just before midnight.

Trump and the other defendants have until noon EDT (1600 GMT) on Friday, Aug. 25, to surrender voluntarily, rather than face arrest, Willis said. She said she intends to try all 19 defendants together within six months.

Court records show the case has been assigned to Judge Scott McAfee, a former prosecutor appointed in February by Republican Governor Brian Kemp. He will seek election next year to retain his position.

Unlike the federal courts where Trump is also awaiting trial, Georgia state courts allow television cameras, meaning the public could have the unprecedented spectacle of watching a former president's trial on live TV as his campaign for a return to the White House goes into high gear.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. – AP

Echoing his criticism of the many other investigations he faces, Trump called the indictment a political "witch hunt" in a social media post and accused Willis, an elected Democrat, of trying to sabotage his presidential comeback bid.

He said he would release a report on Monday on "Presidential Election Fraud" that would exonerate him. "They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!" he said.

Since his defeat in 2020, Trump has repeatedly made false claims that the election was marred by widespread fraud. Those claims have been rejected by dozens of courts, state reviews and members of his own administration.

Giuliani, who rose to national prominence by using racketeering laws to take down New York mobsters in the 1980s, said prosecutors in this case were "the real criminals."

Other defendants either proclaimed their innocence or did not respond to requests for comment.

'Find' votes

The 13 felony charges against Trump matched those listed on a document that was briefly posted on the court website earlier on Monday and reported by Reuters before it disappeared.

In a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call, Trump urged Georgia's top election official, Brad Raffensperger, to "find" enough votes to reverse his narrow loss in the state. Raffensperger declined.

Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol four days later in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's victory.

The indictment paints a picture of a broad conspiracy that started before the Nov. 3, 2020, election and lasted through September 2022, when it says one of those involved lied to a grand jury.

It says those involved in the scheme falsely testified to lawmakers that election fraud had occurred and urged state officials to alter the results.

It says the defendants tried to subvert the US electoral process by submitting false slates of electors, people who make up the Electoral College that elects the president and vice president.

Breaching voting machines, harassing election workers

It alleges that defendants breached voting equipment in a rural Georgia county, including personal voter information and images of ballots.

Prosecutors also said the defendants harassed an election worker who became the focus of conspiracy theories.

The indictment reaches across state lines, saying that Giuliani, Meadows and others called officials in Arizona, Pennsylvania and elsewhere to urge them to change the outcome in those states. It also encompasses the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

The indictment mentions 30 other co-conspirators, though they were not named or charged.

Willis has used the racketeering law to go after drug-dealing networks and educators accused of manipulating test scores.

She will not have to prove that Trump personally broke the law in order to be found guilty of racketeering, only that he knowingly coordinated with others who did. Trump is also charged with breaking other laws, including conspiracy and making false statements.

Unlike many Republican officials, Raffensperger and Kemp have refused to echo Trump's baseless fraud claims.

"The most basic principles of a strong democracy are accountability and respect for the Constitution and rule of law," Raffensperger said in a statement that did not mention Trump.

"You either have it or you don't."

Kemp said the state's elections have been secure and Trump's supporters have failed to prove their fraud claims.

Three other criminal cases 

Outside of Georgia, Trump has pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases. He could spend much of next year in court, even as he campaigns to retake the White House.

He faces a New York state trial in March 2024 involving a hush money payment made during the 2016 presidential campaign, and a federal trial beginning in May in Florida for allegedly mishandling federal classified documents.

A third indictment, in Washington federal court, accuses him of illegally seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat. US Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested a January trial, but a date has yet to be set.

Fani will 'follow the truth': Person thanks Fulton County DA with flowers. – Reuters

Willis' proposed timeline would mean Trump would face trial in Georgia by mid-February 2024.

He also faces civil trials in October and January for fraudulent business practices and defamation.

Georgia, once reliably Republican, has emerged as one of a handful of politically competitive states that can determine the outcome of presidential elections.

Trump's lead in polls over his Republican rivals has widened since the first charges were announced in April. But strategists say his legal woes may hurt him in the November 2024 general election, when he will have to win over more independent-minded voters.

In a July Reuters/Ipsos poll, 37% of independents said the criminal cases made them less likely to vote for him.

Who are the Trump allies indicted in Georgia 

Former US president Donald Trump again stands accused of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 election results to stay in power. But for the first time some allies and closest advisers also face criminal charges for their roles in the alleged scheme.

Already charged by a federal grand jury in Washington with orchestrating a plot to overturn the election, Trump is now the lead defendant in a parallel case in Georgia, charged with racketeering and other crimes along with aides and associates listed below.

Not listed are nine lesser-known Georgia officials charged with additional crimes ranging from perjury to conspiracy to commit computer theft in addition to racketeering.

Mark Meadows

Mark Meadows, who went from being one of Trump's top Republican allies in the US House of Representatives to his White House chief of staff, attended White House meetings related to attempts to undo Trump's election defeat.

The indictment alleges he helped to fuel the conspiracy by making false statements about the election and conspired with Trump to develop a plan to disrupt and delay the congressional certification of the electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021.

It also alleges he tried to pressure a chief investigator in the Georgia secretary of state's office, Frances Watson, to speed up the Fulton County signature verification and that he took part in a phone call in which Trump pushed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to reverse his narrow loss in the state. Raffensperger declined to do so. An attorney for Meadows did not respond to a request for comment.

Rudy Giuliani 

Trump’s former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, played a prominent public role in the Trump campaign's efforts to push false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. The former New York City mayor was involved in litigation that was rejected by courts and falsely claimed in testimony at local hearings in Georgia that he was in possession of evidence proving election fraud.

The indictment alleges he made numerous false statements about election fraud, including to officials in other states like Arizona and Pennsylvania, in a failed bid to convince them to approve an alternative slate of electors to keep Trump in power. He and other Trump allies are also accused of making false statements to Georgia lawmakers about the election, including claims about vote counting errors by Dominion voting machines. Giuliani's attorney declined to comment.

John Eastman

Attorney John Eastman represented Trump in a long-shot lawsuit to overturn voting results in four states Trump lost in 2020. He has been under scrutiny by both US Special Counsel Jack Smith's office and state prosecutors in Georgia for penning a series of legal memos which claimed that former US vice president Mike Pence could reject electors from certain states to deny US President Joe Biden a majority of Electoral College votes. The indictment in Georgia alleges he was part of a plot to appoint fake electors. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Jeffrey Bossert Clark 

Jeffrey Clark is a former high-ranking Justice Department official. In the waning days of the Trump administration, Clark sought to persuade Trump to oust acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen so that he could take over the department and help pursue Trump's false claims by opening an investigation into voter fraud in Georgia and other swing states. The federal indictment brought by Smith against Trump also appears to refer to Clark as a co-conspirator. Monday's indictment cites Clark's efforts to persuade Rosen to submit a letter to Georgia falsely claiming the Justice Department had detected voting irregularities there. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Sidney Powell 

Attorney Sidney Powell played a leading role in promoting false fraud claims after the 2020 US election. She was part of a team that filed unsuccessful lawsuits seeking to overturn election results and was sanctioned by a Michigan judge in one of those cases. She became an adviser to Trump on fraud claims after the election. The indictment accuses her of tampering with electronic ballot markers and tabulators in Coffee County, Georgia, computer theft and unlawfully possessing ballots. She could not be immediately reached for comment.

Kenneth Chesebro

Kenneth Chesebro is a Trump campaign attorney accused in the indictment of helping to devise a plan to submit fake slates of electors for Trump to obstruct US congressional certification of the election results. The indictment alleges he wrote a memo that provided instructions for how alternate slates of electors in states including Georgia should proceed to meet and cast votes for Trump. An attorney for Chesebro did not respond to a request for comment.

Jenna Ellis

Attorney Jenna Ellis was part of the Trump campaign's legal team that falsely claimed widespread voter fraud in 2020. The indictment alleges that Ellis was part of an effort to get false electors appointed by state lawmakers in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The court papers assert that she wrote legal memos for Trump on how Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, could delay the certification of Biden’s election win. Ellis in March agreed to be censured by a Colorado court after admitting to making false claims about voter fraud. She could not be immediately reached for comment.

David Shafer 

The indictment alleges that David Shafer, who served as Georgia Republican Party chairman, played a key role in organizing and executing the plan to submit an alternate slate of electors. Shafer is among those charged with mailing a fake certificate of the so-called Trump electors to a federal courthouse, as well as other offenses tied to the fake elector plot. He is also charged with making false statements to Fulton County investigators. A lawyer for Shafer did not have an immediate comment.

Michael Roman

Michael Roman, who worked for Trump’s 2020 campaign, is alleged to have played a role in orchestrating the fake elector plot. The indictment claims he was in touch with those organizing a meeting of the fake Trump electors in Georgia. He could not be immediately reached for comment.