(AFP) – Donald Trump is to plead not guilty to the charges in a revised indictment accusing him of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election, according to a court filing on Tuesday. Trump, in a filing with the US District Court in Washington, waived his right to be present at his arraignment on the charges and instructed his attorneys to plead not guilty.
Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment of the Republican White House candidate last week on the charges that he tried to subvert the results of the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. The superseding indictment retains the same four charges against Trump as in an earlier version but takes into account a recent Supreme Court ruling that a former president has broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Trump’s request not to appear in person at the arraignment and said it will be held at the same time as a status conference in the case on Thursday. The new indictment of the 78-year-old Trump removes material affected by the presidential immunity ruling from the conservative-dominated top court. It retains the same core, stating that Trump lost in 2020 but “was determined to remain in power” and attempted to subvert the results.
The Supreme Court ruled in July that an ex-president has broad immunity from prosecution for official acts conducted while in office, but can be pursued for unofficial acts. Trump’s lawyers have been seeking to delay a trial until after November’s election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate.
Trump is accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding—the January 6, 2021, joint session of Congress that was attacked by Trump supporters. Trump is also accused of seeking to disenfranchise US voters with his campaign of false claims that he won the 2020 election. He was originally scheduled to go on trial on March 4, but that was put on hold while his lawyers pushed his claim of presidential immunity all the way up to the Supreme Court.
Trump was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 18. Trump also faces charges in Georgia related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
© 2024 AFP
