Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, August 31, entered a plea of not guilty to allegations that he orchestrated a criminal conspiracy aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 election in the southern state of Georgia.
Former US president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he led a criminal conspiracy to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state of Georgia.
The Republican presidential front-runner, who faces 13 felony counts including racketeering, entered his plea in a court filing waiving his right to appear at an arraignment next Wednesday.
Trump, 77, surrendered to the Fulton County jail in the state capital Atlanta last week and was the first former US president pictured in a police mug shot.
The billionaire, who lost the state by fewer than 12,000 votes, has been indicted four times since April, setting the stage for a year of unprecedented drama as he juggles numerous court appearances and another White House campaign.
Trump is the first US president in history to face criminal charges.
His various trials, if they take place next year, are set to coincide with the Republican presidential primary season, which begins in January, and the campaign for the November 2024 White House election.
A judge in Washington on Monday set March 4, 2024 for his federal subversion conspiracy trial, the eve of “Super Tuesday,” when more than a dozen states will pick between Trump and one of his rivals to be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
Trump is also facing several lawsuits and on Wednesday was accused by New York state’s top law enforcement official of routinely overvaluing his net worth by billions of dollars each year between 2011 and 2021.
In documents filed in support of an ongoing $250 million civil suit against the former president, state Attorney General Letitia James claimed that Trump and his associates submitted “grossly inflated” numbers to banks and insurers “to secure and maintain loans and insurance on more favorable terms.”
The scheme resulted in “hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten savings and profits,” the documents alleged.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
