Former US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges brought against him for mishandling classified documents.
“We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s lawyers, told a federal court judge in Miami, Florida.
Trump wore a dark suit and a trademark red tie. And according to accounts from reporters who were present in the courtroom, he arrived about 30 minutes ahead of his time and sat at the defendants table with his lawyers, sometimes with his arms crossed across his chest.
Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by the Department of Justice to lead the case, sat across the room in the first row meant for people.
The former President faces 37 charges in the case for taking classified documents with him when he left the White House and not returning them all at once. The charges could together get him a combined total of 400 years in jail if found guilty.
His aide Walt Nauta is charged as a co-accused in the case with one charge. This was the first time in US history that a former President is facing federal charges. He was charged earlier in a case brought against him by New York state for payment of hush money to an adult film star who has claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2005.
The former President is also a candidate for the Republican ticket to take on President Joe Biden in 2024.
The former president was booked on arrival at the court in the afternoon but he was not subjected to the mugshot part of the routine and he has been released with no restrictions on movements as the judge deemed he is not a flight risk.
“What we are witnessing today is the blatant and unapologetic weaponisation of the criminal justice system, Alina Habba, another of Trump’s lawyers told reporters outside the court.
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