Donald Trump is expected to appear Thursday in a Washington federal court to face new charges that he conspired to obstruct the 2020 presidential election — the third criminal case against the former president as he seeks a new term in the White House.
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump is expected to appear Thursday in a Washington federal court to face new charges that he conspired to obstruct the 2020 presidential election — the third criminal case against the former president as he seeks a new term in the White House.
The 4 p.m. hearing at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse is likely to be short, but it’s an important step in kicking off the latest case brought by Special Prosecutor John L. “Jack” Smith. Trump is expected to be arraigned in person — which means he’ll enter an initial plea to the charges — though the court has yet to announce specific details about the hearing.
Before that, Trump will be processed by the court, which will be similar to the former president’s experience in Florida after he was indicted in June over his handling of classified documents, US Marshals Service spokesman Drew Wade said.
Wade confirmed that Trump:
— will have his fingerprints taken digitally
— will be required to provide his social security number, date of birth, address, and other personal information
— won’t have photograph taken, since he’s already easily recognizable and there are already many photographs available
Trump won’t be placed under arrest, according to Wade. In accepting the indictment Tuesday, US Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya issued a summons for his appearance, not an arrest warrant.
The former president will then head into the courtroom for his appearance. The summons was issued by Upadhyaya, so the expectation is he’ll appear before her, but the case has been assigned to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. The court hasn’t put the hearing on the public calendar to confirm whose courtroom he’ll go to.
During the hearing, Trump’s lawyers will likely do most, if not all, of the talking. The government didn’t ask to put Trump in pretrial custody while the Florida case proceeds, and there’s no expectation they’ll ask for that now. If prosecutors want the judge to impose any conditions on his release, however, they could make those requests, and Trump’s lawyers would have a chance to raise objections.
In Florida, prosecutors asked that Trump be restricted from contacting witnesses about the case unless it was through his lawyers.
The new indictment Tuesday accused Trump of knowingly spreading lies about the 2020 election being rigged in order to undermine faith in the vote and to remain in power. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against the right to vote and have that vote counted.
A third criminal case is pending in New York, where Trump was charged over alleged hush-money payments to an adult film actress who claimed she had an affair with him.
Trump pleaded not guilty in New York and Florida, and he’s derided the criminal cases against him as politically motivated. In a statement Tuesday, his campaign said the Washington indictment involved “fake charges” brought by President Joe Biden’s “weaponized Department of Justice” to interfere with the 2024 election.
The case is US v. Trump, 23-cr-00257, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington, DC).
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