Washington: Former US president Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty to the charges that he tried to change the results of the November 2020 presidential election.
Appearing in a federal courthouse in downtown Washington DC, Trump entered the not guilty plea before Indian-American judge Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya. Trump, who is seeking to contest the 2024 presidential election, arrived at the courthouse in a motorcade after he flew in from Bedminster in New Jersey.
"As to counts one to four, how does Mr Trump plead?" Judge Upadhyaya asked the former president in the courtroom. Trump, flanked by his lawyers, said: "Not guilty." The judge told Trump that he would be released but there are certain conditions that he has to abide by and appear in the court as and when required. Trump's next scheduled appearance is on August 28 before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan. But he has the option not to appear in person.
The 45-page indictment was filed in Washington, DC earlier this week by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who has led investigations into the former president on behalf of the US Department of Justice. The four-count indictment charges the 77-year-old Republican with conspiring to defraud the US, conspiring to disenfranchise voters and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding.
"Despite having lost, the defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the defendant knew that they were false," the indictment reads.
The indictment was issued by a grand jury of citizens in the District of Columbia and sets forth the crimes charged in detail. It caps an inquiry into events surrounding the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol. "The attack on our nation's capital on January 6, 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fuelled by lies," Smith said.
The Trump campaign has charged that Smith "has conducted a dirty, politically motivated investigation of President Trump to prevent him from winning back the presidency".
Smith sat in the courtroom throughout the proceedings.
"At around 4 PM EDT, Biden's weaponised Department of Justice will once again have its leading opponent (me) ARRAIGNED despite having committed NO CRIME. It sounds like a chapter you'd read out of an old history book on the Soviet Union or Maoist China.... But sadly, it's taking place right here in America," Trump wrote in an email before he left New Jersey for the court appearance in Washington DC.
So far, federal prosecutors have filed cases against 1,077 people for the January 6 riots at the US Capitol. This is Trump's third indictment but marks the first time that he has been formally held accountable for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the US Capitol.
In April, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on charges related to payments in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels. In June, Trump was indicted in Miami for allegedly retaining White House documents, including classified documents.