Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty to criminal charges accusing him of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, appearing in a courthouse located between the White House and the Capitol, the scene of a deadly riot by his supporters in 2021.
Trump's arraignment in the Washington federal courtroom, lasting nearly 30 minutes, came two days after he was indicted on four felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
The 77-year-old, who remains the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and his allies have denounced the indictment as politically motivated, casting it as an attempt to undermine his chances of a return to the White House.
"When you look at what's happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent," he told reporters before boarding his plane to return to New Jersey from the U.S. capital. "This was never supposed to happen in America."
Law enforcement authorities stepped up security, including setting up barricades around the courthouse. Some pro- and anti-Trump protestors were seen, but there were no reports of serious incidents.
The building is just blocks away from the Capitol, which was overrun on Jan. 6, 2021, by a mob of pro-Trump protesters seeking to obstruct the certification of President Joe Biden's win in the election.
This is Trump's third criminal indictment since leaving office in January 2021, with all charges coming in the span of only four months.
The latest 45-page indictment accuses him of carrying out a months-long campaign to overturn the election results with six co-conspirators, mostly attorneys. But the former president is the only one charged in the case.
The actions, it says, included spreading "destabilizing lies" and making knowingly false statements on many occasions to convince his supporters there had been "outcome-determinative fraud" in the election.
The two other counts are obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
Trump is the first former U.S. president to face criminal prosecution. But his popularity among Republican voters remains strong enough for him to be the party's presumptive nominee for the 2024 contest.
The next hearing in his latest case was set for Aug. 28, five days after the first Republican presidential primary debate to be held in Milwaukee.
In addition to the election-related case, he has already been indicted on both state and federal charges, and is facing a looming fourth indictment in Georgia in the probe into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
His other pending trials are for a New York case stemming from a hush money payment to a porn star and for a federal case over his retention of classified national security documents at his resort in Florida.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in both those cases.
Under the U.S. Constitution, an indictment or a potential conviction would not disqualify Trump from running for the White House or serving in office if elected.
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Trump indicted for efforts to overturn 2020 presidential election
Trial in Trump classified documents case set for May next year
