By Oyintari Ben
Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday after being arrested and charged with attempting to rig the 2020 presidential election. This is his third criminal case, and maybe the most severe.
As part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the alleged conspiracy and the January 6 Capitol riot, the former president was indicted on Monday on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against citizens’ rights. Six anonymous co-conspirators were also listed in the indictment, though most of their names have been plausibly conjectured by observers.
The former president has denounced the charge and demanded that the “fake” case be transferred outside of Washington, DC, where he maintains that it is “IMPOSSIBLE to get a fair trial.”
Tanya Chutkan, a US district judge appointed by Barack Obama, has been assigned the case. The following hearing is set for August 28.
The Republican has already been accused of manipulating business records to hide a hush-money payment to a porn star and mishandling confidential documents in two other cases.
Five trials are scheduled for Mr Trump: three in New York for the hush-money payment, two civil cases for business practises and one for alleged defamation of a rape accuser.
In Florida, the alleged improper handling of sensitive materials will be the subject of the fourth trial.
