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Washington, US | Xinhua| Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty to federal charges against him for plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, U.S. media reported.
Trump was arraigned in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon, two days after he was formally indicted.
Trump appeared before a magistrate judge to face the charges. When asked for his plea to the four counts he was charged with, Trump replied, “Not guilty.”
The former president reportedly did not have a mug shot taken.
A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Trump with four criminal counts: 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.
The charges could lead to a lengthy prison sentence if convicted, with the most serious counts calling for up to 20 years, according to U.S. media.
“Despite having lost, the defendant (Trump) was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on Nov. 3, 2020, the defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won,” reads the 45-page indictment.
Shortly after election day, Trump also pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results. In so doing, Trump perpetrated three criminal conspiracies: a conspiracy to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function; a conspiracy to corruptly obstruct and impede the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding to certify the results of the presidential election; a conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted, says the indictment.
The next court date is scheduled for Aug. 28, when a tentative trial date will be set. It would fall just days after the first debate in the 2024 Republican presidential primary set to take place on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Trump is the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges. Apart from the charges for attempts to overturn the 2020 election, he is also under indictment in two other cases.
He was charged in June with mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In March, he was indicted on New York state charges of falsifying business records in connection with hush-money payments to an adult film actress ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump is also under investigation in Georgia over his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
By far, Trump remains the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
“The Constitution has very few requirements to serve as President, such as being at least 35 years of age,” Richard L. Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told CNN. “It does not bar anyone indicted, or convicted, or even serving jail time, from running as president and winning the presidency.”
Multiple opinion polls show that Trump dominates his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination by a landslide, as primary voters wave off concerns about his escalating legal jeopardy.
According to the New York Times/Siena College poll conducted July 23-27, Trump led his nearest challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 54 percent to 17 percent among likely Republican primary voters, while no other candidate reached more than 3 percent support. ■
