Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday, August 3, to trying to overturn the results of his 2020 presidential election loss, answering for the first time to federal charges that accuse him of orchestrating a brazen and ultimately failed attempt to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power.
Trump appeared before a magistrate judge at the E. Barrett Prettyman US Federal Courthouse in Washington two days after being indicted on four felony counts by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith. The charges accuse him of trying to subvert the will of voters and undo his election loss in the days before Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters stormed the US Capitol in a violent and bloody clash with law enforcement. Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, is facing charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct Congress’ certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. His appearance Thursday, and the rest of the court case, will unfold in a courthouse block in clear view of the Capitol and in a building where more than 1,000 of the Capitol rioters have been charged.
Trump has said he is innocent, and his legal team has characterized the latest case as an attack on his right to free speech. The case is part of an ongoing set of escalating legal troubles for the ex-president, coming nearly two months after Trump pleaded not guilty to dozens of federal felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and thwarting government efforts to retrieve them. Smith himself was in the courtroom and sat in the front row behind the prosecutors handling the case. Three police officers who defended the Capitol that day were also seen entering the courthouse.
The indictment from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith charges Trump with four felony counts related to his efforts to undo his presidential election loss, including conspiracy to defraud the US government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The charges could lead to a yearslong prison sentence in the event of a conviction. The former president was the only person charged in the case, though prosecutors referenced six unnamed co-conspirators, mostly lawyers, they say he plotted with, including in a scheme to enlist fake electors in seven battleground states won by Biden to submit false certificates to the federal government.
The indictment chronicles how Trump and his Republican allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a "bedrock function of the U.S. government," repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power. This is the third criminal case brought against Trump in less than six months.
Before he boarded his airplane following the brief cour, the former US president – who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – told reporters it was a "very sad day for America" and slammed the election conspiracy charges brought against him, saying he was a victim of "persecution of a political opponent."