WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — Donald Trump is due in federal court Thursday to answer to charges that he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump is expected to be processed by law enforcement, be taken into custody and enter a not guilty plea in front of a judge before being released.

An indictment Tuesday from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith charges Trump with four felony counts related to his efforts to undo his 2020 presidential election loss in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The charges could lead to a prison sentence in the event of a conviction.

Trump has in the meantime declared as a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential campaign; and has met the qualifications for the first GOP candidate debate.

The former president was the only person charged in this new case, though prosecutors referenced six co-conspirators they say he plotted with, including in a scheme to enlist fake electors in seven battleground states won by Democrat Joe Biden to submit false certificates to the federal government.

The indictment chronicles how Trump and his Republican allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a "bedrock function of the U.S. government," repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power.

This is the third criminal case brought against Trump in the last six months.

He was charged in New York with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential campaign. Smith's office also has charged him with 40 felony counts in Florida, accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents at his Palm Beach estate. He has pleaded not guilty in both those cases, which are set for trial next year.

The arraignment will be handled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadyaha. Going forward, the case will be presided over by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of the Capitol rioters.

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