Washington : Donald Trump’s supporters gathered outside the DC federal courthouse on Friday to lend their support to the former US President in the election interference case.
“I'm here supporting Donald Trump and actually supporting all of the political prisoners from January 6 that are being held illegally,” said Suzanne Monk, one of the supporter, standing outside the DC federal courthouse on Friday.
Monk was standing alongside other Trump supporters waiting for the former US President to arrive at the DC federal courthouse to face 2020 election conspiracy charges.
Monk further said: “You've seen countries like Venezuela and other countries that are taken over by dictators, and what they do then is use the courts and use jails to control their political opponents. And now we see it in the United States, which is a very sad day for us. But I think that this is something that is going to really energize and wake up the American people..."
Former US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, CNN reported. The next hearing in the Trump election interference case is set for August 28.
Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya scheduled the next hearing in the election subversion case for August 28 at 10 am ET.
That proceeding will happen before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan. Prosecutor Thomas Windom said the government was available on all of the days that the magistrate judge offered as potential hearing days, but would prefer the earliest one.
The Trump team requested August 28, the latest of the three options. “I will also note, Mr Trump, that to the extent you are not able to attend as a result of your schedule, I have consulted with Judge Chutkan and she is willing to waive your appearance,” Upadhyaya said.
Prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s office did not seek pretrial detention for Donald Trump. Instead, the former president will be released on very minimal conditions of release, which include not being allowed to communicate with anyone known to be a witness in the case unless through an attorney, CNN reported.
Trump stood and raised his right hand, swearing to abide by the conditions of release and he also signed papers agreeing to the conditions.
Trump was indicted on Tuesday as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump's efforts to reverse the election leading up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
He was charged with these four counts; 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.
“How does Mr Trump plead?” Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya asked Trump how he pleaded to counts 1-4 in the indictment. “Not guilty,” Trump said.
Trump was joined by his attorneys John Lauro and Todd Blanche. Another Trump attorney, Evan Corcoran, who has not formally entered an appearance in the case was seated at a row behind the defense table.
The case in Washington is the third indictment filed against Trump in the last four months and the most all-encompassing, accusing him of attempting to undermine the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next, one of the central tenets of US democracy.
It accuses him of orchestrating a plan to retain power even though aides repeatedly told him he had lost the election and there was no proof of substantial fraud that would have changed the outcome, as he claimed then and does to this day, VOA reported.
In a fiery fundraising email, the former president assailed his rival, President Joe Biden, for overseeing "a dystopian Third World dictatorship that has only temporarily taken control of our once great and free Republic."
Trump is the first US president, in office or after his term, in the country's 247-year history to face criminal charges, VOA reported.
Security was tightened around the US courthouse in Washington, with some streets closed to traffic and large trucks with plough blades positioned bumper to bumper to block entryways in the event any troublemakers appear. Dozens of officers stood guard in the area. Tow trucks were removing parked cars.
The courthouse is located just blocks from the US Capitol, near where Trump on January 6, 2021, urged thousands of his supporters to go and "fight like hell" to prevent lawmakers from certifying that Biden had won the election, VOA reported.
About 2,000 rioters rampaged into the Capitol building that day, clashing with police, ransacking congressional offices and delaying the final votes in the Electoral College showing that Biden had won until the early hours of January 7. Trump, to no avail, had demanded that then-Vice President Mike Pence, presiding over the Electoral College vote count, block the outcome to keep them in power.
Despite the growing number of criminal charges Trump is facing, he is far and away the leading Republican contender for the party's 2024 presidential nomination and could again face Biden, the Democrat who defeated him in 2020 and replaced Trump as president in early 2021. (ANI)
