Trump pleads not guilty to charges of plotting to overturn 2020 election

Washington: Former US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty before an IndianAmerican judge to four charges that he plotted a criminal conspiracy to remain in power despite losing the November 2020 election.

Trump, 77, entered his plea on Thursday before Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya at a Washington, D.C., federal courthouse not far from the US Capitol, where the alleged conspiracy he's accused of orchestrating turned violent on January 6, 2021.

Wearing a dark blue suit and a red tie, Trump arrived at the courthouse in a motorcade after he flew in from Bedminster in New Jersey. It was Trump's third court appearance in four months.

The former president is seeking to contest the 2024 presidential election as the Republican Party's candidate.

After he arrived at the court, Trump was arrested and arraigned on four felony counts outlined in special counsel Jack Smith's indictment: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Upadhyaya read the charges to Trump accusing him of conspiring against the United States to overthrow his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, now the US president, and listed the lengthy prison terms he would face if convicted.

The 45-page indictment was filed in Washington, DC earlier this week by Smith, who has led investigations into the former president on behalf of the US Department of Justice.

"As to counts one to four, how does Mr Trump plead?" Judge Upadhyaya asked the former president in the courtroom.

Trump, flanked by his lawyers, said: "Not guilty."

Trump spoke little during the hearing, answering questions about his name and age, while rarely glancing at prosecutors. When asked whether he understood that his words could be used against him, he replied in the affirmative.

The judge told Trump that he would be released but there are certain conditions that he has to abide by and appear in the court as and when required.

Trump's next scheduled appearance is on August 28 before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan. But he has the option not to appear in person. "Despite having lost, the defendant was determined to remain in power.

So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the defendant spread lies that there had been outcomedeterminative fraud in the election and that he had actually won.

These claims were false, and the defendant knew that they were false," the indictment reads. The indictment was issued by a grand jury of citizens in the District of Columbia and sets forth the crimes charged in detail. (PTI)