Former President Donald Trump pled not guilty Thursday to criminal charges that he illegally conspired to overturn his 2020 presidential defeat with false claims that the race was “stolen.”
Trump was arraigned in a Washington, D.C., courtroom, just blocks from the site of some of the crimes he is alleged to have committed at a rally near the U.S. Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6 riots.
The counts against Trump, related to his alleged Jan. 6 efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, include conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
A return date for a pretrial hearing that Trump won’t be required to attend was set for Aug. 28.
Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom but reporters were present. According to CNN, the inside of the doorway into the courtroom was covered by seven federal marshals during Trump’s appearance. The scene outside on a cloudy, 80-degree day was relatively subdued with a sizable contingent of TV media doing stand-ups and a number of Trump supporters in the area carrying and waving MAGA-style flags.
Before his court appearance on Thursday, Trump used the opportunity to rally support for his 2024 presidential bid, calling on his supporters to send money.
He wrote on his Truth Social network: “I am now going to Washington, D.C., to be arrested for having challenged a corrupt, rigged and stolen election. It is a great honor, because I am being arrested for you. Make America great again!!!”
Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, has accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the U.S. Justice Department.
“This is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed frontrunner, and leading by substantial margins,” the campaign said in a Truth Social statement.
“But why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges,” the post added, “right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024?”
President Joe Biden was asked by media during a Thursday morning bike ride if he would be watching coverage of Trump’s arraignment. He responded emphatically, “No!”
In addition to the charges filed against Trump on Thursday, the former president is facing a myriad of other legal woes.
He was arrested and released on June 13, in Miami, Florida, after being charged with 37 counts related to the alleged mishandling of more than 100 classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate containing national security secrets. He pleaded not guilty to the Espionage Act charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and willful retention of defense records.
In March, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up an alleged “hush money payment” to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump has pled not guilty to those charges.
Meanwhile, a federal judge recently upheld a $5 million jury verdict that found Trump guilty of sexually abusing and defaming Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, who claimed Trump raped her in a New York department store dressing room in 1996.
