Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to four alleged crimes related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and 2020 election on Thursday.
Trump was arraigned in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., after a grand jury voted Tuesday to indict the former president on counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Trump attorney Alina Habba spoke outside the D.C. courthouse, accusing the Department of Justice of targeting Trump to cover up negative news about President Joe Biden and his family.
“This is election interference at its finest against the leading candidate, right now, for president of either party. President Trump is under siege in a way that we have never seen before,” Habba said.
"This is election interference at its finest against the leading candidate right now for president."
🚨MUST WATCH: Trump attorney Alina Habba speaks outside DC courthouse. pic.twitter.com/bAYwhrV7Af
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 3, 2023
Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, ahead of the court hearing, accusing Biden of corruption.
“Biden and his family steal Millions and Millions of Dollars, including BRIBES from foreign countries, and I’m headed to D.C. to be ARRESTED for protesting a CROOKED ELECTION. UNFAIR VENUE, UNFAIR JUDGE. We are a Nation in Decline. MAGA!” Trump posted.
This week’s indictment against Trump is the third in roughly four months, piling court battle on top of court battle while Trump campaigns for the Republican nomination for president in 2024. The indictment is also the second from Smith. The first indictment, up for trial in Florida, accuses Trump of mishandling classified documents stored in Mar-a-Lago after his exit from the White House in 2021.
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Republicans have largely condemned the latest indictment, calling it a product of a weaponized Department of Justice. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called the indictment the “DOJ’s attempt to distract … and attack the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, President Trump.”
McCarthy has threatened impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden over evidence that Biden allegedly sold influence to foreign countries through his son, Hunter.
Trump is facing a bevy of trials during some of the heaviest parts of the campaign season. He is due to face trial in New York on March 25 over alleged hush money Trump paid to the porn star known as Stormy Daniels. The indictment alleges 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in order to cover up the payments.
Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating Trump over allegations of election tampering. Willis is expected to conclude her investigation and seek an indictment against Trump in the next few weeks.
The former president is also facing two civil trials, a business fraud trial in New York and a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who has already won once case against Trump after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse in May.
Trump is not required to attend civil trials in person, though he will have to sit through criminal trials.