Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

Former US President Trump was indicted on Tuesday on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump has been charged by the Department of Justice with four counts: A conspiracy to defraud the United States "by using dishonesty, fraud and deceit to obstruct the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election"; a conspiracy to impede the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified; a conspiracy against the right to vote and to have that vote counted; obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct and impede, the certification of the electoral vote.

Trump has been summoned to appear at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington, D.C., according to NBC News.

The Trump campaign compared the indictment of to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

In a statement, the campaign called the charges against Trump a “pathetic attempt” to derail the former President's 2024 White House bid.

“The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes,” the campaign said in a statement. “President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys.”

Official news of the indictment came after Trump said he expects to be indicted in connection with the probe.

“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 favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M.,” Trump 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!” he added.

Shortly after Trump’s post, a sealed indictment was delivered to a D.C.-based magistrate judge that did not include any names.

It was presented to the judge by an individual believed to be the foreman of the grand jury investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to NBC News.

In mid-July, Trump said he had been informed by special counsel Jack Smith that he is a target of the criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a sign he may soon be charged by the special counsel.

Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland last November to oversee over two Justice Department investigations involving Trump: The investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents, for which Trump has already been indicted and pleaded not guilty.

Before the indictment in the classified documents probe, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president on 34 counts of falsifying business records in March.