Donald Trump arrives in Washington airport ahead of arraignment
Former U.S. President Donald Trump Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday 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.
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Trump appeared before a magistrate judge in Washington's federal courthouse 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 U.S. Capitol in a violent and bloody clash with law enforcement.
The courthouse is about half a mile (1 km) from the U.S. Capitol, the building Trump supporters stormed on Jan. 6, 2021, in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
In a 45-page indictment on Tuesday, Special Counsel Jack Smith accused Trump and his allies of promoting false claims the election was rigged, pressuring state and federal officials to alter the results and assembling fake slates of electors to try to wrest electoral votes from Biden. Smith was sitting in the front row of the courtroom as the arraignment began.
Trump faces four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., to deprive citizens of their right to have their votes counted and to obstruct an official proceeding. The most serious charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
In a series of posts on his social media site, Trump framed the indictment as a contrivance to derail his campaign, while his campaign issued a statement comparing the Biden administration to fascist regimes.
The indictment is the third in four months for Trump. He has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he retained classified documents after leaving office and New York state charges that he falsified documents in connection with hush money payments to a porn star.
Trump may soon face more charges in Georgia, where a state prosecutor is investigating his attempts to overturn the election there. The Atlanta-area prosecutor, Fani Willis, has said she will file indictments by mid-August.
"I need one more indictment to ensure my election!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform ahead of his Thursday court appearance.
Republican voter concerns
About half of Republicans said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a felony, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, underscoring the potential risks his legal entanglements pose for his candidacy. But the same poll, taken after Tuesday's indictment, also demonstrated his remarkable resiliency in the Republican primary race. He earned the support of 47% of Republicans, extending his lead over second-place Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, at 13%.
Three-quarters of Republicans said they agreed that the charges were "politically motivated," showing that Trump's claim that he is the victim of a witch hunt resonates with his base.
The vast majority of Republican leaders, including several competing with Trump for the White House, have either defended him or avoided direct criticism, instead accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing the Justice Department against a political foe.
Law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service and the Washington, D.C., police department, said extra security measures were in place. Additional fencing was erected outside the courthouse and snow plows parked to block some nearby roads, with a scattered handful of protesters outside, including one holding a sign that read, "save our democracy." Another pair of people waved a flag with the slogan, "Trump or death."
'You're too honest'
Many of the allegations in Tuesday's indictment had been well-documented in media reports and the investigation conducted by a U.S. House of Representatives select committee. But the indictment featured some details that were not widely known, including several based on grand jury testimony and contemporaneous notes from former Vice President Mike Pence, who is also running for the Republican presidential nomination.
The indictment describes a phone call in which Pence told Trump there was no legal basis for the theory that Pence could block certification of the election.
"You're too honest," Trump responded, according to prosecutors.
Although Pence repeatedly told Trump he lacked the authority to reject electoral votes from certain states, Trump kept repeating the claim.
On Jan. 6, as he spoke to his supporters before they attacked the Capitol, Trump said: "If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election." Some rioters at the Capitol later chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!"
Far from deterred by the violence, Trump and an unnamed co-conspirator kept calling Republican members of Congress hours after the riot had ended, still intent on blocking certification, the indictment said.
"We need you, our Republican friends, to just try to slow it down," the co-conspirator said in a voicemail to one U.S. senator, according to prosecutors. The indictment's description of the co-conspirator makes clear it was Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former personal attorney.
Pence was one of the few prominent Republicans to criticize Trump on Tuesday, saying that "anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president."