Former President Donald Trump has pleaded “not guilty” after a magistrate judge presented four criminal counts against him in a 45-page indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding, and attempting to disenfranchise voters with false claims of election fraud related to the 2020 presidential election.
The former president decried the new conspiracy charges as “persecution of a political opponent” while speaking to reporters before leaving Washington on his private plane.
Trump, who is leading by significant margins in the Republican primary and in polls against President Joe Biden, asserted that the legal proceedings were an attempt to hinder his political ambitions.
“This is a very sad day for America,” Trump said. “This is the persecution of the person that’s leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot. So if you can’t beat him, you persecute him or you prosecute him. We can’t let this happen in America.”
Trump’s arraignment took place at the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse with tight security measures in place.
Demonstrators held placards outside, with some calling for Trump’s imprisonment while others expressed their support.
The indictment alleges that Trump, along with six unnamed co-conspirators, sought to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by promoting knowingly false claims of election fraud.
Special counsel Jack Smith linked Trump’s actions following the election directly to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, which he described as an “unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.”
The trial has been set for August 28 before US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who assured that there will be a fair process and a fair trial.
This high-stakes case poses a significant challenge to Trump’s White House comeback bid. In addition to the current charges, Trump is scheduled to go on trial in Florida in May of next year on charges of taking top-secret government documents to his Mar-A-Lago estate and refusing to return them.
He also faces criminal charges in New York for allegedly paying hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election.
