Washington, 4 August 2023 (tca/dpa/MIA) — Former US president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to four federal charges in connection with accusations that he engaged in a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the will of voters and stay in power despite losing the 2020 election, resulting in an unprecedented attack on the US Capitol.

Trump appeared before Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya at the E Barrett Prettyman US Courthouse in Washington, DC, near where rioters first attacked police officers and pushed down barriers on the west lawn of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Upadhyaya informed Trump of the maximum sentences for each of the four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights, and obstruction of or attempting to obstruct an official proceeding.

Trump, who traveled from Bedminster, New Jersey, was flanked by his legal counsel, John Lauro and Todd Blanche, to whom he spoke occasionally. But mostly the former president sat quietly, hands folded, while waiting for the short proceedings to begin in the cavernous Courtroom 22. He shook his head when the case name was read aloud.

Special counsel Jack Smith sat in the first row of three benches that held reporters, staff and members of the public.

When he arrived at the courthouse, Trump did not have mugshot taken.

Trump said on social media at noon Eastern time (1600 GMT) that he was on his way to the nation's Capitol "TO BE ARRESTED FOR HAVING CHALLENGED A CORRUPT, RIGGED, & STOLEN ELECTION. IT IS A GREAT HONOR, BECAUSE I AM BEING ARRESTED FOR YOU. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"

The area around the courthouse was quiet early Thursday, with Metropolitan Police and Homeland Security officers outnumbering the dozens of reporters waiting to enter the building or setting up cameras along the sidewalk. The day before, the Capitol spent hours on lockdown after a 911 call suggested there was an active shooter in a Senate office building. Law enforcement later reported no such incident had occurred after clearing the area.

By midday about a dozen protesters had gathered outside the courthouse, which is located about a block from the US Capitol, and the crowd slowly grew. One person waved a long pole with two large flags attached that said, "Finish the Wall Trump 24 Save America" and "Trump for President 24." Another wore an inflatable costume of Trump in a diaper. City dump trucks lined the street in front of the main entrance to the building, ready to block streets if needed.

Trump has attempted to cast the indictment and other legal challenges he faces as attempts to interfere with his 2024 presidential election campaign, complaining that he is being forced to spend time and money defending himself rather than campaigning.

"The Dems don't want to run against me or they would not be doing this unprecedented weaponization of 'Justice.' BUT SOON, IN 2024, IT WILL BE OUR TURN. MAGA!" he posted on Truth Social on Thursday morning.

The indictment alleges that after Trump lost the 2020 election, he and his allies concocted a variety of schemes to try to keep him in office, including one to pressure officials in states that voted against him to overturn their results on the basis of false claims of fraud.

Trump is also accused in the indictment of using the power of the Justice Department in an attempt to overturn the election by pushing the agency to "conduct sham election crime investigations" and to wield its authority to "falsely" buttress the legitimacy of his schemes. The former president also solicited false slates of electoral votes from dozens of Trump-supporting electors in seven states, according to the indictment.

Trump is also alleged to have used false election fraud claims and the fake electoral slates to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop the January 6, 2021, congressional certification of Joe Biden's victory by either throwing out results for the Democrat in certain states or by delaying the official electoral vote count.

When Pence refused on the morning of January 6 to comply, the indictment states, Trump took advantage of the violence at the Capitol "by redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince Members of Congress to further delay certification based on those claims."

The former president was one of three defendants Thursday facing charges related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The two others, a former Chicago police officer and a former voice actor on the television show "Bob's Burgers," are among the more than 1,000 people charged.

Additional charges could be possible as Trump's case progresses. The indictment refers to six unnamed co-conspirators with enough detail, such as dates of conversations, to provide strong indications as to their identities.

Smith said Tuesday that his team's "investigation of other individuals continues."

The new charges against Trump are just the latest developments in the legal peril the former president faces as he campaigns for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

In March, he is scheduled to stand trial in New York on allegations that he paid an adult film star through an intermediary so she would not disclose information about an alleged affair she had with Trump shortly before the 2016 election, and that he covered up the payment while in office. In May, Trump is scheduled to face federal charges of willfully retaining classified government records after leaving office in 2020 and obstructing the investigation into the matter.

And more is expected. Fulton County, District Attorney Fani Willis in Atlanta has said she will make a decision on an indictment by September 1 following a lengthy investigation into Trump's efforts to pressure state election officials to "find" the votes needed for him to reverse his loss in the key state in 2020.

Photo: EPA