Donald Trump is preparing to plead not guilty to an updated indictment accusing him of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election. The revised indictment takes into account a significant Supreme Court ruling that grants a former president broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
In a filing with the US District Court in Washington on Tuesday, Trump waived his right to be physically present at his arraignment. He directed his legal team to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf. Special Counsel Jack Smith had filed a new indictment last week, accusing Trump of attempting to subvert the election he lost to Joe Biden.
While the superseding indictment maintains the original four charges, it now incorporates the Supreme Court ruling, which gives an ex-president immunity for official acts while in office but allows prosecution for unofficial actions. Trump's lawyers have been leveraging this ruling in their defense strategy.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan has agreed to Trump's request to skip the arraignment, which will coincide with a status conference on Thursday. The indictment still claims that Trump was "determined to remain in power" despite losing the election, with efforts to overturn the outcome and disenfranchise voters.
Trump's legal team is also pushing to delay his trial until after the 2024 election, citing the need to resolve the immunity issue in the courts. Meanwhile, Trump faces multiple other legal battles, including a separate case in Georgia related to election interference, and his conviction in New York for falsifying business records linked to hush money payments.
As the legal landscape shifts, Trump's defense will continue to invoke presidential immunity while attempting to delay trial proceedings, adding more complexity to the former president's path forward in the courts.
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