Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of orchestrating a plot to overturn his 2020 election loss - in what prosecutors call an effort to undermine American democracy.
It is the latest federal legal fight for the former president, as he pushes ahead with hopes of becoming Republican candidate in the 2024 White House race.
On Thursday afternoon, Trump spoke to once more slam the legal process as politically-motivated after the short arraignment at a Washington DC court on charges of conspiring to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden.
The federal indictment lists a series of inflammatory tweets as evidence that Trump was fomenting a plot to thwart the will of the voters - and to stoke up anger among his supporters, culminating in the deadly storming of Congress in January 2021.
The hearing took place half a mile from the US Capitol, the building his supporters stormed on 6 January 2021 in a bid to stop Congress from certifying Trump’s defeat. It’s the third time he’s pleaded not guilty in a court in four months, and faces federal charges with a possible 20-year jail term attached.
For the latest on the case, and how it’s impacting the Republican presidential race, The Leader podcast is joined from parliament by Evening Standard deputy political editor Jitendra Joshi.
We discuss legal icebergs ahead for Trump, the intersection with campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination and how a re-match against Biden could shape up.
Listen above, and find us on your Spotify Daily Drive or wherever you stream your podcasts.
