Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to the secret hoarding of large documents, put the court | World news
Former US President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to federal criminal charges that he illegally stored national security documents when he left office and lied to government officials who sought to retrieve them.
Trump’s plea, entered before US Supreme Court Judge Jonathan Goodman in a federal court in Miami, sets up a possible legal battle in the coming months as he campaigns to win the presidency in November 2024. Experts say it could be a year or more before a trial takes place.
Trump is allowed to leave the court without conditions or travel restrictions and does not require a financial bond. Goodman ruled that Trump was not allowed to communicate with potential witnesses in the case.
Former Trump aide Walt Nauta, who is also charged in the case, has pleaded not guilty, the Associated Press reported.
The hearing was closed to cameras and live broadcasts.
It was the second court visit for Trump in recent months. In April, he pleaded not guilty to state charges in New York stemming from paying bribes to a porn star.
Trump is the first former president to be charged with federal crimes.
Supporters wearing Make America Great Again hats and carrying American flags chanted “Miami for Trump” and “Latinos for Trump” as the car stopped outside the courthouse. A man can be heard chanting, “USA! USA!”
The authorities are prepared for possible violence, remembering the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, but Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told reporters that there are no security problems.
Trump has repeatedly declared his innocence and accused the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden of targeting him. He called Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, a “Trump bully” on social media on Tuesday.
“THE SADEST DAY IN OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY, OUR COUNTRY IS BEGINNING!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform shortly before his motorcade left the Trump Doral hotel for court.
Smith accused Trump of putting national secrets at risk by taking thousands of sensitive documents with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a safe manner at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate. He and his New Jersey golf club, according to a grand jury indictment released last week.
Photos in the indictment show boxes of documents stored on the ballroom level, in a bathroom and spilled across a storage closet.
Those records included information about the secret US nuclear program and potential vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the indictment said.
The 37-count indictment accuses Trump of lying to government officials who tried to get them back.
The indictment also alleges that Trump conspired with Nauta to hide classified documents and hide them from federal grand jury. Nauta has worked for Trump at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago.
INDEPENDENT VOTERS, OPPONENTS LINE UP BEHIND TRUMP
Recent events do not contradict Trump’s hopes of returning to the White House. After his trial Trump is expected to fly from Miami to his New Jersey golf club, where he is scheduled to speak.
Nor have Trump’s legal woes hurt his standing with Republican voters.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed that Trump still leads rivals for the Republican nomination for the 2024 election by a wide margin, and 81% of Republican voters view the charges as politically motivated.
Most of Trump’s Republican rivals backed the choice of line and accused the FBI of political bias, in a sharp shift from the party’s traditional support for law enforcement.
Vivek Ramaswamy, one of those candidates, said outside the Miami court that he would pardon Trump if elected.
WORKS MENTIONED IN ALLEGATIONS TO TRUMP
Trump faces charges that include violating the Secret Service Act, which charges him with unauthorized possession of security information, and conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
That is the maximum sentence he faces, because he will do any sentences concurrently if he is found guilty.
Legal experts say the evidence is a strong case, and Smith has said that Trump, who will turn 77 on Wednesday, will have a “quick” trial.
The judge assigned to the case, Aileen Cannon, was appointed by Trump in 2020 and issued a ruling in his favor during a trial last year that was reversed on appeal. Goodman, the judge who held Tuesday’s hearing, is not expected to play an ongoing role in the case.
Experts say the complexities of handling classified evidence and legal maneuvering by Trump’s lawyers could delay an investigation for more than a year.
Meanwhile, Trump is free to campaign for the presidency and can take office even if he is convicted.
Trump accused Biden of organizing a federal hearing to undermine his campaign. Biden has kept his distance from the issue and declined to comment on it.
In his first presidential run in 2016, Trump called for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to be jailed for using private email while serving as secretary of state, leading to “lock her up” chants at campaign rallies. FBI Director James Comey later criticized Clinton for negligence but did not recommend criminal charges.
(Additional reporting by Rami Ayyub, Sarah N. Lynch, Susan Heavey, Julia Harte, Tyler Clifford, Doina Chiacu and Luc Cohen; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Howard Goller)
