USA: Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday (August 3) pleaded not guilty to the charges that he attempted to alter the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Trump appeared in a federal courthouse in downtown Washington DC and entered the not guilty plea before an Indian-American judge Magistrate Moxila Upadhyaya.
The former US President who is seeking to contest next year’s presidential polls arrived at the courthouse after he flew in from Bedminster in New Jersey.
"As to counts one to four, how does Mr Trump plead?" Judge Upadhyaya asked Trump in the courtroom.
“Not guilty,” Trump said who was flanked by his lawyers.
The judge said that there are certain conditions based on which Trump would be released and added that he has to abide by them and appear in the court as and when asked to.
Trump's next scheduled appearance is on August 28 before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan. However, he has an option not to appear in person.
45-page indictment against Trump
Special Counsel Jack Smith who has led investigations into Trump on behalf of the US Department of Justice filed a 45-page indictment in Washington, DC earlier this week.
The indictment charges the former US president with conspiring to defraud the US, conspiring to disenfranchise voters and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding.
"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 outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the defendant knew that they were false," the indictment read.
It was issued by a jury of citizens in the District of Columbia. It caps an inquiry into events surrounding the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
"The attack on our nation's capital on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fuelled by lies," Smith said.
The Trump campaign has charged that Smith "has conducted a dirty, politically motivated investigation of President Trump to prevent him from winning back the presidency".
This is Trump's third indictment but marks the first time that he has been formally held accountable for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the US Capitol.
In April, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted the former US president on charges related to payments in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels.
In June, Trump was indicted in Miami for allegedly retaining White House documents, including classified documents.
(With AP inputs)
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