Former US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to attempting to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia, according to a court document filed on Thursday.
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This is the fourth criminal case prosecuting the real estate mogul, who was the favorite in the Republican primaries to retake the White House from his 2020 opponent, current President Joe Biden.
His trial date in this case has not yet been set. However, in another document submitted by his lawyer, he formally called for his case to be separated from several of the 18 other defendants who had opted for an “expeditious trial” to be scheduled from October and asked for more time to prepare his defense .
The real estate mogul complains of “election interference” and insists that these trials take place after the presidential election scheduled for November 2024.
Summoned for his public arraignment in Georgia on September 6, Donald Trump, like several other defendants, stated in the court document that he was waiving his right to appear before the judge and therefore would not appear again in Atlanta, the capital of the United States State, allowed to travel from Georgia.
He was required to appear in person at an Atlanta jail last week while being registered there and undergoing an official ID photo, a first for a former American president.
Already three attempts in three months
Mr. Trump and 18 others, including his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, were indicted on August 14 for unlawful attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Joe Biden in this key state.
The organized crime law used by the public prosecutor in this case provides for prison sentences of five to twenty years.
The septuagenarian is also accused in New York of suspicious payments to a former porn actress, and the federal judiciary is also accusing him of electoral pressure during the 2020 presidential election and negligent handling of confidential documents after he left the White House.
The former president pleaded not guilty to all of these cases. He systematically attributes his legal setbacks to the administration of Joe Biden, who is also running for his own re-election.
In any case, the tempestuous Republican is preparing for an extraordinary 2024, between campaign meetings and criminal trials in March and May – a calendar that could still evolve.
He protested Monday against the judge’s decision in his trial in federal court in Washington to set the opening for March 4, 2024, a day before Super Tuesday, one of the key dates of the Republican primaries.
However, several political analysts note that if he confirms the phenomenal lead that the polls give him in the Republican primaries, he could already at that point finally secure his position as the party’s presidential nominee.
Every legal twist brings him millions of dollars in campaign contributions from Trumpists convinced he is the victim of a political scheme.