WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Washington, D.C. today and pleaded not guilty to the four separate charges filed against him by the Department of Justice (DOJ) relating to his objection to the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
During the Thursday afternoon arraignment, which took place at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States District Court in Washington D.C., Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, accused President Joe Biden of engaging in “political lawfare” against the former president, who despite his legal woes remains Biden’s number one rival for the 2024 presidential election.
“This is election interference at its finest against the leading candidate right now for president for either party,” Habba said.
“President Trump is under siege in a way that we have never seen before. President Trump and his legal team and everyone on his team will continue to fight – not for him, but for the American people.”
The DOJ had initially indicted Trump on the four federal counts on Tuesday, listing six unnamed “co-conspirators” as defendants alongside the former president.
READ: Trump indicted by Biden DOJ for alleged Jan. 6 ‘conspiracy’ to overturn 2020 presidential election
“The attack on our nation’s capital on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” special counsel Jack Smith alleged at the time of the indictment. “It was fueled by lies — lies by the defendant — targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.”
The charges are: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding and Conspiracy Against Rights.
While the conspiracy against rights can carry the death penalty, that only applies if the actions lead to the death of another person. “Prosecutors are not arguing that Trump’s actions led to any of the deaths that occurred during or after the Jan. 6 attack,” The Washington Post reported at the time.
READ: Special counsel Jack Smith knows new Jan. 6 charges are gov’t effort to take down Trump
Trump responded to the news by thanking his supporters.
He wrote Tuesday morning on Truth Social:
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!! I HAVE NEVER HAD SO MUCH SUPPORT ON ANYTHING BEFORE. THIS UNPRECEDENTED INDICTMENT OF A FORMER (HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL!) PRESIDENT, & THE LEADING CANDIDATE, BY FAR, IN BOTH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE 2024 GENERAL ELECTION, HAS AWOKEN THE WORLD TO THE CORRUPTION, SCANDAL, & FAILURE THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS. AMERICA IS A NATION IN DECLINE, BUT WE WILL MAKE IT GREAT AGAIN, GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. I LOVE YOU ALL!!
Trump is also facing federal charges pertaining to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Since the unprecedented raid on a former president’s home, it has come out that Biden also had classified documents in his possession at his home in Delaware and at a think tank he ran through the University of Pennsylvania.
READ: Donald Trump to stand trial in federal classified documents case next May
A New York grand jury also indicted Trump in March on charges relating to his alleged improper payments to a pornography performer.