Donald Trump blasts his third indictment as ‘persecution’
The former president pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to subvert US democracy on Washington.
Donald Trump has blasted his arraignment in Washington, after his third indictment this year, as a “persecution”, after he pleaded not guilty in a federal courthouse to a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results.
The former US president, who is the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s 2024 nomination, jetted into the US capital from New Jersey on Thursday afternoon (Friday AEST) to appear before a federal judge, after the Department of Justice indicted him on four criminal conspiracy charges two days earlier.
Speaking briefly to reporters on the airport tarmac before he flew home, the 77-year-old billionaire, who has ramped up his re-election campaign for the White House in recent weeks, said his appearance was “a very sad day for America”.
“This was never supposed to happen in America … This is the persecution of the person who is leading by very substantial numbers (among other Republican nominee hopefuls) and leading Biden by a lot”, he said, seemingly exaggerating his position given nationally, most point to a neck-and-neck in a hypothetical rematch with President Joe Biden.
“So if you can’t beat him, you persecute him or you prosecute him,” he said. “We can’t let this happen in America.”
Police and media significantly outnumbered the crowd of Trump supporters and larger group of demonstrators voicing their support for the indictment outside the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse, a few hundred metres away from the Capitol Building, the site of the riots of January 6, 2021, that ultimately triggered the indictment.
Wearing a red tie and navy blue suit, Mr Trump sat in the hearing room between his lawyers John Lauro and Todd Blanche, accompanied by a phalanx of security personnel as magistrate judge Moxila Upadhyaya read the charges, scheduling the next hearing date for August 28, before judge Tanya Chutkan, who will preside over the case.
“Not guilty,” Mr Trump said after Judge Upadhyaya read the four criminal counts – and the potential maximum prison sentences – in the 45-page indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Mr Trump entered his plea during a nearly 30-minute hearing at the same Washington courthouse where hundreds of his supporters have been convicted for their roles in January 6 riots.
Mr Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, has charged Mr Trump with conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding and attempting to disenfranchise voters with his false claims that he won the election.
“The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false claims of election fraud,” the indictment said.
Mr Smith linked Mr Trump’s actions following his loss directly to the attack on the Capitol, which he called an “unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy”.
“It was fuelled by lies,” he said.
Mr Trump’s appearance marked the third time in four months he has been arraigned on criminal charges, including for taking classified documents and paying hush money to porn star Sormy Daniels; and he could face a fourth indictment, for alleged election interference in Georgia, in coming weeks.
To his supporters, Mr Trump’s post election campaign to show himself the victor was an act of courage; for his detractors, the charges are a long-awaited reckoning for the loss he refused to accept. The charges brought in Washington directly relate to Mr Trump’s conduct in the aftermath of the 2020 election and will resonate on the 2024 campaign trail as he seeks to recapture the White House.
One man outside the courthouse waved a sign that read, “Jail Trump forever.” Another group danced in front of a sign reading, “Trump indictment celebration tour” as the song “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang blared. A group of Trump supporters waved a flag that said, “Trump or Death”.
Daniel DeMoura, 32, was among the Trump supporters in front of the courthouse. He argued the former president was standing up against a corrupt system.
“He’s really, basically, a lion,” he said. “He is very brave.”
Domenic Santana, 61, said he travelled from Miami to Washington to protest against the former president. “Running America is not a reality show,” said Mr Santana, who was wearing a black-and-white-striped prison uniform. “He should have been locked up a long, long time ago.”
Mr Biden, for his part, was asked during a bike ride while holidaying with his family in Delaware if he would follow the arraignment. His response was a curt “No.”
The indictment names Mr Trump alone, but describes six co-conspirators working with him, including people identifiable such as Rudy Giuliani and several lawyers who worked with him to contest the 2020 election results, none of whom has yet been charged.
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