Trump pleads not guilty to charges over efforts to overturn 2020 election

WASHINGTON - Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty to federal charges against him for plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, US media reported.

Trump was arraigned in a federal courthouse in Washington, DC, on Thursday afternoon, two days after he was formally indicted.

Trump appeared before a magistrate judge to face the charges. When asked for his plea to the four counts with which he was charged, Trump replied, "Not guilty."

The former president reportedly did not have a mug shot taken.

A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Trump with four criminal counts: 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.

"Despite having lost, the defendant (Trump) was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on Nov 3, 2020, the defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won," reads the 45-page indictment.

Shortly after election day, Trump also pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results. In so doing, Trump perpetrated three criminal conspiracies: a conspiracy to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function; a conspiracy to corruptly obstruct and impede the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding to certify the results of the presidential election; a conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one's vote counted, says the indictment.

Trump is the first former US president to face criminal charges. Apart from the charges for attempts to overturn the 2020 election, he is also under indictment in two other cases.

He was charged in June with mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In March, he was indicted on New York state charges of falsifying business records in connection with hush-money payments to an adult film actress ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump is also under investigation in Georgia over his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.