Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election tampering case
Washington, Aug 31 (EFE).- Former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) pleaded not guilty on Thursday to the 13 felony charges against him for trying to manipulate the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, where he narrowly lost to current President Joe Biden.
Trump’s attorneys filed a document in the Fulton (Georgia) District Court on Thursday in which the former president also stated: “Understanding my rights, I hereby freely and voluntarily waive my right to be present at my arraignment on the indictment and my right to have it read to me in open court.”
This means that he will not travel to Georgia to appear before the judge.
The reading of the indictment against Trump and 18 other defendants is scheduled for September 6 in a public hearing open to the press.
To indict Trump and his 18 former allies, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, used the RICO statute, which is used against members of the mafia and is designed to ensure that the leaders of a criminal enterprise, not just their subordinates, are held accountable to the law.
The ex-president went to Georgia a week ago to register and have his mug shot taken. He spent only 20 minutes in the Fulton County Jail and was released on a $200,000 bail.
Trump is the first former president in the history of the United States to be indicted and has already accumulated four criminal cases.
In addition to Georgia, he is being prosecuted in New York for irregular payments he made during the 2016 campaign to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels about a past affair they had.
He was also indicted in Florida for taking classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago estate when he left the White House in January 2021, and in Washington for the January 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Trump has also pleaded not guilty in these three other cases.EFE
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