Former US President Donald Trump pleaded “not guilty” in a federal court in Miami on Tuesday to the 37 federal charges filed against him in connection with embezzlement and concealment of classified documents.
“Without question, we plead not guilty,” the tycoon’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, said during the hearing, Agence France-Presse reported.
Trump, the first former president of the United States of America to be criminally indicted by the federal courts, appeared before federal judge Jonathan Goodman, who notified him of the 37 charges filed by a grand jury for diverting classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, his mansion in South Florida.
The former president attributes the indictment led by special prosecutor Jack Smith to a “great witch hunt” launched by the current US head of state, Democrat Joe Biden.
These accusations set the stage for a potentially damaging prosecution for his 2024 presidential campaign.
The 76-year-old Republican is accused of endangering US security by storing classified documents, including military plans or nuclear weapons information, in places like a bathroom or party room in his mansion.
Trump is also accused of having refused to return these documents, which earned him a charge of “unlawful withholding of information relating to national security”, but also of “obstruction of justice” and “false testimony”.
Trump’s lawyers, who spoke little throughout the hearing and kept their arms crossed the entire time, called for him to be tried by a jury.
The full reading of the 37 charges was not held at the request of Trump’s defence, which indicated it already knew them.
Waltine Nauta, a Trump aide who is also charged in the same case, was not indicted today because he did not have a lawyer who could represent him in this court and a new hearing was set for June 27 before Judge Edwin Torres.
The prosecution has stressed it is not necessary for Trump to hand over his passport as it does not consider there is a flight risk, meaning the tycoon is free to travel even abroad, but has asked the judge to take steps to ensure the former president does not influence potential witnesses.
Jonathan Goodman, who is not the lead judge in the case, has asked the prosecution to draw up a list for Magistrate Aileen Cannon – the judge in charge of the case and appointed by Trump while he was still President – to make a decision on the matter.
After pleading not guilty, the former president left the federal courthouse in Miami and is expected to travel to the state of New Jersey, where he will attend a fundraiser and is expected to speak about the case.
The White House, meanwhile, defended itself against Trump’s accusations of interference, reiterating that the head of state, Joe Biden, is not involved in any way in the former president’s legal proceedings.
