August 03, 2023 02:53 PM UTC

Trump Pleads Not Guilty in Jan. 6 Arraignment

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• by: Colorado Pols

As The New York Times reports:

Former President Donald J. Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that he conspired to remain in office despite his 2020 election loss, appearing before a judge in a Washington courthouse in the shadow of the Capitol, where his supporters rampaged in an effort to undermine the peaceful transfer of power.

Mr. Trump, who is running in the hopes of being sworn in again on the steps of the Capitol, stood before a federal magistrate judge who asked for his plea to the four counts he faced. He replied, “Not guilty.”

It was the third time in four months stood before a judge on criminal charges. But it was the most momentous, the beginning of what prosecutors say should be a reckoning for his multipronged efforts to undermine one of the core tenets of democracy.

The first hearing in the case, which historians say could be one of the most important in American history, is scheduled for Aug. 28.

Click here for photos of the scene today in Washington D.C., which began with Trump flying in to Reagan International Airport before a Secret Service team escorted him to the courthouse.