August 03, (THEWILL) – Former US President, Donald Trump, has again pleaded not guilty to Federal charges, over alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Trump entered the not guilty plea on Thursday, at a Federal Court House before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya.
It is the third time this year that the former president has been forced to respond to a criminal indictment and has maintained his innocence in all charges relating to the indictment.
He was arraigned on Thursday, on four felony counts of 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 arraignment came two days after his indictment. Special counsel Jack Smith, who is handling the investigation, accused Trump of executing a “criminal scheme” to remain in office even after it became clear that he had fairly lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
According to the 45-page indictment, Trump and his associates disseminated lies alleging widespread fraud in the 2020 election while convening slates of fake electors in key battleground states. The indictment also listed six co-conspirators, who were not charged in the indictment.
The indictment claimed that Trump and his associates’ relentless campaign of misinformation culminated in the insurrection, which claimed the lives of at least seven people.
“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. 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 indictment read in part
Trump is next scheduled to appear on August 28 at 10am before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a former assistant public defender, who was nominated to the bench by Barack Obama.
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