Former President Donald Trump appeared Thursday, August 3, before Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya, pleading not guilty on four new charges from special counsel Jack Smith. The new charges stem from allegations that Trump is responsible for the January 6 incident at the Capitol in 2021.
Mr. Trump arrived at the E. Barrett Prettyman courthouse in Washington, DC, for his latest arraignment after 3 p.m. Judge Upadhyaya entered the courtroom and began the hearing at 4:16. After swearing in the former president, the judge read out the charges and Mr. Trump’s rights as the defendant. He then pleaded not guilty to all four counts. After the judge reminded Mr. Trump that it’s a crime to attempt to influence jurors, the former president was released on the condition that he does not communicate with any of the witnesses “except through or in the presence of counsel.” The next court appearance has been set for 10 a.m. on August 28. This next appearance will be before US District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, an Obama appointee who has presided over other Jan. 6 cases and quickly established a reputation for imposing some of the harshest penalties on the Jan. 6 defendants who appeared before her.
The new 45-page indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, accuses the former president of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.
“Despite having lost, the defendant was determined to remain in power,” the indictment read. “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 Ever-Historic Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s presidency and its aftermath have been filled with historic firsts, but several of those have not been positive in nature. He was the first president to be impeached twice. He was then the first former president to be brought up on federal criminal charges – making the second and now third indictments historical firsts, as well. In total, the former president now faces 78 criminal charges across three separate jurisdictions.
Donald Trump (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty in each of his indictments so far. He posted Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social, calling the latest set “fake charges.” The campaign doesn’t seem to have slowed at all. He continues his campaign to retake the White House. While nothing legally prevents him from running and even winning the presidency after being convicted and even sentenced, the most likely approach by Trump’s legal team at this point is to attempt to either get charges dropped entirely or at least drag out the process until after election day. Should Trump win re-election, the DOJ falls once again under his control, and any prosecution attempts against him surely die.
Trump’s supporters – and, perhaps most importantly, his donors – have seemingly been supercharged by the indictments. They’ve responded to each attack with stronger support and more money, hoping to see Trump be the historic second president to win re-election in non-consecutive terms.
