Former US President Donald Trump pleaded “not guilty” Tuesday in Miami federal court to the 37 federal charges filed against him related to the diversion and concealment of classified documents.
“Without doubt, we plead not guilty,” the tycoon’s attorney, Todd Blanche, said during the hearing, Agence France-Presse reported.
Trump, the first former president of the United States of America to be criminally charged by federal justice, appeared before federal judge Jonathan Goodman, who notified him of the 37 charges presented by a Grand Jury, for having diverted confidential documents to Mar-a-Lago, his mansion in South Florida.
The former president attributes the prosecution led by special counsel Jack Smith to a “great witch hunt” started by the current US head of state, Democrat Joe Biden.
These allegations set the stage for a potentially damaging lawsuit for his 2024 presidential campaign.
The 76-year-old Republican is accused of endangering the security of the United States by storing confidential documents, including military plans or information about nuclear weapons, in places such as a bathroom or ballroom in his mansion.
Trump is also accused of having refused to return these documents, which earned him the accusation of “unlawful withholding of information related to national security”, but also of “obstruction of justice” and “false testimony”.
Trump’s lawyers, who spoke little during the hearing and kept their arms folded throughout, called for him to be tried by a jury.
The full reading of the 37 indictments was not carried out at the request of Trump’s defense, which indicated that it was already aware of them.
Waltine Nauta, a Trump adviser who is also charged in the same case, was not charged today because he did not have a lawyer who could represent him in this court and a new hearing was scheduled for June 27 before Judge Edwin Torres.
The Attorney General stressed that it is not necessary for Trump to hand over his passport since he does not consider there a risk of flight, which means that the magnate is free to travel even abroad, but asked the judge to take measures so that the former president does not influence on potential witnesses.
Jonathan Goodman, who is not the lead judge in the case, asked the Attorney General’s Office to draw up a list for Judge Aileen Cannon – the presiding judge in the case and appointed by Trump while he was still president – to make a decision on the case. affair
After pleading not guilty, the former president left federal court in Miami and must travel to the state of New Jersey, where he will participate in a fundraiser and must speak about the case.
The White House, for its part, defended itself against Trump’s accusations of interference by reiterating that the head of state, Joe Biden, is not involved in any way in the former president’s legal proceedings.
“The Department of Justice is independent,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference.
Source: TSF
