Indictment of Trump is a stress test for US democracy

Former US president Donald Trump's stunning criminal charges have triggered a fierce counterattack from Republicans, putting America on a collision course between partisan politics and the rule of law ahead of a potentially explosive election

- David Smith

Last Friday, prosecutors unsealed a devastating 37-count indictment against Trump, accusing him of risking some of the country's most sensitive security secrets after leaving the White House in 2021. He mishandled classified documents that included information about the secretive US nuclear programme and potential domestic vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the indictment said.

Trump is the first former president in US history to be charged with federal crimes. But he is also the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Last week's indictment and other cases against him - raise the prospect that he will spend the next 18 months hurtling between campaign rallies and court appearances. The convergence of the electoral and legal calendars could threaten America's fragile democracy.

Far from disowning a former president who played fast and loose with national security and the lives of Americans overseas, Republicans rallied around him with renewed zeal. They falsely asserted that Joe Biden was seeking to jail his political opponent. They stepped up efforts to turn the tables by accusing Biden of a bribery scandal without providing evidence. And they used incendiary language that evoked political violence.