Trump pleads not guilty to election charges in Georgia, waives arraignment

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty to criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in Georgia and waived his right to seem at his arraignment next week, in accordance with a court filing.

Trump’s arraignment on 13 felony charges is scheduled on Sept. 6 at 9:30 a.m. ET in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta.

“Understanding my rights, I do 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,” the previous president said within the court filing.

Trump is way and away the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. He’s facing a litany of charges in three other criminal cases with trial dates that overlap with the election campaign.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed a trial date of March 4, 2024 within the Georgia election case, the day before Super Tuesday primary contests and 7 months before the presidential election.

Trump is one among 19 co-defendants charged in Georgia in a wide-ranging racketeering case that alleges he, several attorneys, a White House aide, and several other Republican state party officials sought to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory within the Peach State by various means.

Essentially the most serious charge Trump faces within the Georgia case is violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. The previous president also faces various fraud and forgery charges.

Trump was arrested, fingerprinted and had his mugshot taken on the Fulton County jail last week. Following his Aug. 25 arrest, Trump was released on a $200,000 bond, which he posted with the assistance of an area bail bondsman.

The conditions of his release are different than his 18 co-defendants. The conditions include a prohibition against making any “direct or indirect threat of any nature” against anyone involved within the case or against the broader “community” or its property.

“The above shall include, but are usually not limited to, posts on social media or reposts of posts made by one other individual on social media,” wrote Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who issued Trump’s bond order.

Trump’s 18 co-defendants within the case can even be arraigned in Atlanta on Sept. 6. His former lawyer Rudy Giuliani might be arraigned at 9:45 a.m.. The arraignment of the opposite 17 defendants, who include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

Trump faces dozens of charges in three other criminal cases. In two separate federal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, the previous president has been indicted on charges related to his try and overturn Biden’s victory within the 2020 election and for mishandling classified documents.

Federal judges have set trial dates of March 4, 2024 within the federal election interference case and May 20, 2024 within the classified documents case.

In Latest York state, Trump has been charged with falsifying business records related to hush money payments to women who say they’d extramarital affairs with him.