Trump election interference charges include Civil War-era legal rights law

Count One of an indictment against former U.S. President Donald Trump is seen after he was hit with criminal charges for a third time in four months - this time arising from efforts to overturn his 2020 U.S. election defeat, in a photo illustration August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Fogarty/Photo Illustration

(Reuters) - The charges brought against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday in the federal election interference case are based in part on a law enacted in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War to protect the rights of Black people.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, was charged with conspiring to deprive voters of their right to a fair election and defraud the U.S. by blocking Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory. He has denied wrongdoing and said the case is part of a broader, politically motivated "witch hunt."