Highlights
- Trump faces four charges
- The case is not expected to go to trial before the election.
- Trump is not in court
New York: Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to criminal charges in a revised federal indictment accusing the former US president of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. Trump’s lawyers entered the plea on his behalf at the start of a court hearing in Washington focused on how the case should proceed after the US Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee in the Nov. 5 election, will not attend the hearing. The new indictment, filed in August, includes the same four counts as the one obtained last year by special counsel Jack Smith, but dismissed allegations that the Supreme Court found could no longer be part of the case.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to consider competing motions by Smith, who is seeking to push the case forward, and Trump, who is pushing to delay action until after the election. The Supreme Court has ordered Chutkan to decide whether other parts of the case should be dismissed.
Trump faces four criminal charges accusing him of using false claims of voter fraud to undermine the election results and prevent the certification of his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden. The case had been delayed for months as Trump argued his request for immunity and is virtually certain not to go to trial before Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the election.
Trump has argued that the suit, as well as other legal proceedings against him, are politically motivated attempts to undermine his presidential campaign. The Supreme Court ruled in July, in a 6-3 decision, that former presidents are presumed immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken as part of their official responsibilities as president.
Smith has argued that all other charges are not covered by the immunity ruling and can proceed to trial. Prosecutors have said they are prepared to file court papers with their arguments “at any time the court deems appropriate.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers have suggested that Chutkan should not begin to weigh the impact of the immunity ruling until December, after the election. If Trump wins the election, he is expected to order the Justice Department to drop the charges. Trump has proposed that his lawyers first dismiss the case based on the argument that Smith was illegally appointed as special counsel under the U.S. Constitution.
Trump used the same argument to convince a Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida to dismiss a second criminal case, also brought by Smith, accusing him of illegally withholding classified documents after leaving office. Smith’s office is appealing that decision. The federal appeals court in Washington has previously upheld the authority of special prosecutors to handle certain sensitive investigations.
(With contributions from the agency)
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