Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to the conspiracy charges to overturn the results of the 2020 election, by appearing in federal court in Washington DC.
The tycoon is being accused of trying to fraudulently reverse the results of the 2020 elections, where he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States government and witness tampering; at a time when the then-president was making fervent and unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. He also links it to the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump arrived at the courthouse in a Secret Service motorcade, and pleaded not guilty before Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya, an Indian-born magistrate who grew up in Kansas. She was appointed as a US Magistrate Judge on September 7, 2022, according to her Washington District Court biography.
“Regarding charges one through four, how does Mr. Trump plead?” the judge asked Trump, who was wearing a blue suit and red tie.
The defendant raised his head and responded: “Innocent,” he quoted The Washington Post.
Upadhyaya then reminded Trump that he would be released, but under certain conditions, including not violating any laws, appearing in court when required, and refraining from contacting witnesses in the case other than through a lawyer.
His next court appearance is scheduled for August 28 at 10 a.m., before District Judge Tanya Chutkan, but this time Trump will have the option not to attend personally.
Trump pleaded not guilty like hundreds of others accused of various crimes as a result of the riots that his supporters caused on January 6, 2021 in the United States Capitol building to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
According to the Washington prosecutor’s office, 1,077 people face federal charges related in some way to that attack. Trump, it’s 1,078.
This accusation represents the third criminal case against the former president since he announced his aspiration to the presidential candidacy for the Republican Party for the 2024 elections.
The Department of Justice had been investigating the plans of Trump and his allies for months to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to Biden, and now it severely accuses him of attacking the constitutional foundations to remain in power through conspiracies.
A few weeks ago, Trump appeared before a Miami court for retaining classified documents in his Florida mansion after leaving the White House.
Then it was expected that the former president would be prosecuted for his alleged connection to the events associated with the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as happened this Thursday.
Meanwhile, another grand jury in Georgia brought another indictment against Trump for interfering in the state’s electoral process.
Trump, who has been under investigation for his 2021 phone call to a Georgia election official in which he pressured him to find thousands of votes for him, has denied any wrongdoing and the whole incident led to an investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Wallis, a Democrat.
Despite these demands, a poll showed on Tuesday that Trump is the favorite among the competitors in the race for the Republican presidential nomination with 54% support. The New York Times/Siena College poll indicates that the former president’s closest rival is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (17%), who ranks no less than 37 percentage points below the magnate.
