August 3, 2023 Trump pleads not guilty on 2020 election interference charges

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in a Washington, DC, federal courthouse Thursday to federal criminal charges stemming from his plots to overturn the 2020 election, in a 27-minute proceeding where the first flashes of the defense’s tactics emerged.

It was the third occasion that Trump was arraigned on criminal charges this year, and the hearing marked the public debut of the team of lawyers in special counsel Jack Smith’s office who will be leading the prosecution.

Here are key takeaways from the hearing:

Conflicts about the case schedule are emerging: In the classified documents case that Smith has also brought against the former president in June, the Trump team has sought to slow-walk the schedule for the proceedings. There were hints of a similar strategy in the first hearing in the election subversion case.

Much of Thursday’s hearing was staid and to-script. But the tone sharpened when the judge said the prosecutors should file recommendations for the trial date and length in seven days, and that the Trump team should respond within seven days after that.

Trump attorney John Lauro told the judge that they would need to look at the amount of evidence they’ll be receiving from the government — which he said could be “massive” — before they could address that question.

“There is no question in our mind, your honor, that Mr. Trump is entitled to a fair and just trial,” Lauro said, nodding both to Trump’s right to a speedy trial as well as his right to due process.

Prosecutor Thomas Windom previewed that the special counsel would propose this case unfolding under a normal timeline under the Speedy Trial Act, which sets a time limit —unless certain exemptions are sought — for criminal cases to go to trial.

Trump’s court and campaign calendar is growing crowded: There’s likely to be more added to the pile of legal problems on the former president’s plate.

In Georgia, in the coming weeks, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to bring charges in her election subversion probe and it’s possible that Trump will be indicted in that.

And then there’s the other case from Smith alleging Trump mishandled classified documents from his White House and then obstructed the probe into the materials.

That case is currently scheduled to go to trial next May, and there will be regular pre-trial proceedings (at which, Trump is not required to appear) before that. There’s also the criminal case that Manhattan prosecutors brought against Trump for a 2016 campaign hush-money scheme, currently slated for trial in March.

This court calendar is overlaid against his 2024 campaign schedule as well. The first Republican presidential debate, for instance, is on August 23.

Read more takeaways here

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump left the Washington, DC, courthouse Thursday in a sour and dejected mood after pleading not guilty, multiple sources familiar with his mindset told CNN.

Trump was “pissed off” after he motorcaded through traffic, the sources said.

After the 27-minute legal proceeding, the former president did not take questions as he had planned to do at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport before his return flight to New Jersey.

Trump did speak briefly to the media, criticizing the charges and claiming he was being persecuted because he was running for office.

Trump had been fingerprinted and processed at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse before he pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

One aspect of the hearing that irked the former president — who is still referred to by his former title when at his Bedminster golf club or Mar-a-Lago resort — was when Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya referred to him as simply “Mr. Trump.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy falsely compared the former president's "stolen" election claims to actions taken by Democrats Hillary Clinton and Al Gore after they lost their White House bids.

Even though Clinton and Gore both conceded their losses and didn't take the array of actions detailed in special counsel Jack Smith's case against Trump, McCarthy tried to say that Trump was being unfairly prosecuted for his "thoughts," which he compared to Gore and Clinton after their losses.

Trump — unlike Clinton and Gore — continued to perpetuate the false claim that he actually won the 2020 election, took a series of steps aimed at pressuring state and federal officials to keep him in power and called on his supporters to hold a rally on January 6, 2021, which ultimately led to the insurrection at the US Capitol.

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to four counts in federal court in Washington, DC, on Thursday afternoon.

He was indicted in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election leading up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

This is Trump's third arrest in four months.

Here's what to know about today's events:

It’s been eight years since he rode down the escalator in Trump Tower and more than two years since the January 6, 2021, insurrection, but the legal drama surrounding Donald Trump has never been more intense.

Here are key things to know about the former president's three indictments:

Hush-money payments: In New York, a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels resulted in Trump's indictment by a Manhattan grand jury over his alleged role in the scheme – the first time in American history that a current or former president was criminally charged. He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

The former president surrendered and was placed under arrest April 4, before he was arraigned in a historic and unprecedented court appearance, at which he pleaded not guilty.

Mar-a-Lago documents: Special counsel Jack Smith is overseeing the Justice Department’s criminal investigations into the retention of national defense information at Trump’s resort and into parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

Trump was initially indicted on, and has pleaded not guilty to, 37 federal charges related to the investigation of documents that were allegedly mishandled when they were taken to Mar-a-Lago in Florida after Trump left office. Last week, Smith charged Trump with three additional counts in a superseding indictment.

A judge has set a May 2024 start date for the trial.

2020 election and January 6: Smith’s purview also includes the period after Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden and leading up to the insurrection at the US Capitol.

A federal grand jury indicted Trump on four criminal counts in the investigation: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump pleaded not guilty to the federal charges on Thursday.

The next hearing is set for August 28 at 10 a.m. ET.

Read more.

Walt Nauta, Donald Trump’s aide and co-defendant in the special counsel's case in Florida alleging mishandling of classified documents, was spotted at the airport following the former president’s arraignment. 

Nauta greeted Trump as he exited his motorcade and handed the former president an umbrella. Trump then made brief remarks. 

Nauta, a 40-year-old Navy veteran, is one of three defendants in the classified documents probe and has been accused of helping Trump hide classified documents from the federal government. Nauta served as a military valet in the Trump White House and traveled to Florida with Trump when he left office, eventually taking on the role of his personal aide. 

Nauta has pleaded not guilty to the charges, including obstruction. 

District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who's assigned to preside over former President Donald Trump’s criminal case in Washington, DC, has repeatedly spoken out in very strong terms against the efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and disrupt the transfer of power. 

In November 2021, Chutkan forcefully rejected Trump’s attempts to block the House select committee investigating January 6 from accessing more than 700 pages of records from his White House.

Chutkan has been outspoken about the riot at several sentencing hearings – calling the violence an assault on American democracy and warning of future danger from political violence – and has repeatedly gone over what prosecutors have requested for convicted rioters’ prison sentences. 

At a December 2021 sentencing hearing, she looked ahead to the 2024 election, saying that “every day we are hearing about reports of anti-democratic factions, people plotting potential violence in 2024."

Chutkan has even tacitly referenced Trump during criminal sentencings, saying to one rioter that he “did not go to the United States Capitol out of any love for our country. … He went for one man.”

At a sentencing hearing on October 4, 2021, she acknowledged the nationwide attention on the Capitol riot cases. 

At that same hearing, she also rejected comparisons between January 6 and the 2020 protests against racial inequality. 

Read more here.

Following the arraignment of former President Donald Trump, law enforcement officials continue to monitor protests in Washington, DC, but have seen no major issues.  

Federal and local law enforcement — which are coordinating closely on security efforts — are keeping an eye on the situation around DC, but have not had to address any major threats or disturbances, sources familiar with the situation tell CNN. 

Protesters have largely left the courthouse as rain began to pour down. Some protesters let off small firecrackers before leaving.

Many in the crowds gathered around the building were simply observing the small groups of protesters and the large media presence.

Seven judges of the DC federal court observed former President Donald Trump's proceeding from the back row.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, who was in the courtroom, reports their appearance underlines the importance of the proceeding and how January 6, 2021, riot cases and special counsel investigations have become so core to the Washington courthouse.

Among the judges who attended: Chief Judge James Boasberg, who had weighed and rejected Trump's efforts to block former Vice President Mike Pence's grand jury testimony in the special counsel’s 2020 election interference probe, and Judges Amy Berman Jackson and Randolph Moss, who memorably sentenced criminal defendants in the Mueller investigation who had worked for Trump's campaign. 

Also in attendance at the courthouse Thursday were Harry Dunn, the US Capitol Police officer who was the target of racist slurs during the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, and former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was injured that day. They watched the hearing from a room with live video of the proceedings. 

Nicole Reffitt -- the wife of the first January 6 defendant to go to trial and be convicted -- was spotted in the courthouse earlier in the day. Reffitt is often seen at the sentencing hearings and trials.

Trump’s arraignment drew several other members of the public, more than 50 journalists and court staff.