Donald Trump is to plead not guilty to charges in an amended indictment that accuses him of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election, according to a court document filed on Tuesday.
In an application filed in the US District Court in Washington, Trump waived his right to appear at the hearing on the charges against him and instructed his lawyers to plead not guilty.
Special counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment last week against the Republican White House nominee, accusing him of trying to overturn the results of the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The new indictment retains the same four charges against Trump as in the earlier version, but also takes into account a recent Supreme Court ruling that gives former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Trump’s request not to appear in person at the arraignment and said the hearing would take place along with a status conference on the case on Thursday.
The new indictment against Trump, 78, removes material that was affected by the presidential immunity decision from the conservative-dominated top court.
It retains the same gist, saying Trump lost in 2020 but was “determined to remain in power” and attempted to overturn the results.
The Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for official acts taken while in office, but can be prosecuted for unofficial actions.
Trump’s lawyers are seeking to postpone the trial between Trump and the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, until after the November election.
Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding — the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021, which was attacked by Trump supporters.
Trump is also accused of attempting to disenfranchise American voters by falsely claiming he won the 2020 election.
He was initially scheduled to go on trial on March 4, but it was postponed after his lawyers took his claim of presidential immunity to the Supreme Court.
Trump was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The sentencing date has been set for Sept. 18.
Trump also faces charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
