Former US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 37 criminal charges related to willfully mishandling of classified documents when he left the office and lied to the officials who sought to recover them, the Reuters reported.
“We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, told the judge.
Trump’s former aide Walt Nauta, charged with six criminal counts, did not enter a plea on Tuesday, the AP reported.
The former president was allowed to leave the federal court without restrictions, reported CNN, after prosecutors told Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman that the defendant was not considered a flight risk.
Trump was not allowed to communicate with potential witnesses in the case, the CNN said.
It was his second court visit in recent months. In April, he had pleaded not guilty to state charges in a payment to a porn star in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement.
The former president has repeatedly claimed that he is innocent and has accused Biden administration of targeting him. He has also accused Joe Biden of weaponising law enforcement agencies against him.
Trump, on his ways to federal court in Miami (Florida), posted several messages in his account on the social media platform Truth Social. He called Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, a “Trump hater” and termed the day as: “ “One of the saddest days in the history of our country. We are a nation in decline!!!”
Alina Habba, a lawyer attorney for the former president, repeated the former president’s claims that the charges were politically motivated as she addressed media outside court.
“We are at a turning point in our nation’s history, the targeting prosecution of a leading political opponent is the type of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela,” Reuters reported quoting Habba.
“What is being done to the President Trump should terrify all citizens of this country,” Habba added.
The former president is facing 37 felony counts, alleging that he illegally retained national defense information and concealed the documents in violation of witness-tampering laws in the Justice Department’s probe into the materials.
(With agency inputs)
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Updated: 14 Jun 2023, 02:04 AM IST
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