By Ashley Murray and Jacob Fischler / The Kansas Reflector
WASHINGTON —August 3, 2023-- Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to four felony charges in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., after a federal grand jury handed up an indictment against the former chief executive related to the 2020 election.
Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, was released under the conditions that he must not violate federal, state or local law and must not communicate with witnesses about the facts of the case, unless in the presence of counsel.
The first hearing in the case, in which Trump is charged with trying to overturn the election, is set for Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
Chutkan is willing to waive Trump’s appearance at the first hearing.
Trump entered Courtroom 22 inside the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse at 3:52 p.m. and sat between his lawyers, John Lauro, to his left, and Todd Blanche, on his right.
A limited number of reporters were allowed in the courtroom and more in two media overflow rooms, but no photographs or video were permitted.
For just over 20 minutes the former president, dressed in a red tie and blue suit, sat folding and unfolding his hands and exchanging whispers with the attorneys while waiting for Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya to begin the proceeding.
U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the indictment, watched from just beyond the prosecution’s table.
The court gaveled in at 4:15 p.m.
Trump, 77, remained silent except to deliver his name, age, confirmation that he understood the charges, and his plea.
“Yes, your honor, Donald J. Trump, John. 7-7, 77,” he told the magistrate.
At 4:23 p.m. Trump stood as Upadhyaya began the formal arraignment.
“You have the opportunity to enter a formal plea,” she told Trump, whose legal team waived a formal reading.
“Not guilty,” Trump answered in a quiet voice.
“I ask you to please listen carefully to the warnings I’m about to give you,” Upadhyaya said.
She told Trump that the “most important” condition of his release is that he not break any laws, otherwise he could face a warrant for his arrest, risk being held pending trial or face a longer sentence.
Upadhyaya said that Judge Chutkan intends to set a trial date and expected trial length at the upcoming hearing.
Trump’s legal team objected, asking for more time to review the “magnitude of discovery,” Lauro said.
“For the government to suggest this case could be tried within the Speedy Trial Act motion is absurd,” Lauro said.
A “speedy trial” is required by law to commence within 70 to 90 days after an indictment or from the date the defendant appears in court.
“This case, just like any other case, will benefit from normal order, including a speedy trial,” U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor Thomas Windom said.
Upadhyaya gave Trump’s team five days to submit a written request for more time. The government will then have five days to respond.
The hearing ended at 4:42 p.m. Trump and his team left a few minutes after Upadhyaya.
Trump decries charges
Just before boarding his flight back to his home in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump spoke for less than a minute with reporters, holding an umbrella as rain fell. He said the prosecution was political and called the proceeding “a very sad day for America.”
“This is a persecution of a political opponent,” he said. “This was never supposed to happen in America.” He did not take questions.
A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted the former president on four counts, including 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 former president could face no more than five years in prison for the first charge against him, and not more than 20 years for each of the following three charges. Each charge could carry a fine of not more than $250,000, and could require up to three years of supervised release.
Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said in a brief appearance outside the courthouse before the arraignment that the prosecutions of the former president were politically motivated. Officials with the U.S. Justice Department are seeking to keep Trump “distracted” as he campaigns to unseat President Joe Biden, she said.
“This is about politics, this is about 2024,” she said. “Period, the end.”
Trump had the right to dispute the election results, Habba added. While the indictment says Trump was told by several close advisers that he had no chance of legally overturning the election, that advice did not cancel Trump’s right to challenge the results, she said.