Former US President Donald Trump has arrived at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC, to surrender on charges he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
It’s the third criminal case brought against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
Trump’s motorcade made its way through Washington’s crowded streets, using lights and sirens — a journey documented in wall-to-wall cable coverage once again — and onlookers flanked the streets as the former president arrived at the courthouse.
The early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination will appear before a magistrate judge on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States. The courthouse sits within sight of the US Capitol that his supporters attacked on January 6, 2021, to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
It’s the third criminal case filed against Trump this year, but the first to try to hold him criminally responsible for his efforts to cling to power in the weeks between his election loss and the Capitol attack that stunned the world as it unfolded live on TV.
Trump has said he did nothing wrong and has accused special counsel Jack Smith of trying to thwart his chances of returning to the White House in 2024.
Trump’s initial appearance before a magistrate judge Thursday comes two days after being charged in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump, wearing a suit and red tie, left his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Thursday afternoon and boarded a private plane before taking off for the nation’s capital.
Trump has denied all charges. Before taking off, Trump took to social media to again criticize the case as politically motivated and repeat his baseless claim that the 2020 election was “crooked.”
The indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses Trump of brazenly conspiring with allies to spread falsehoods and concoct schemes intended to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden.
Law enforcement increased security at Washington’s federal courthouse ahead of Trump’s appearance, patrolling the area by foot, bike and car.
Law enforcement set up metal barricades near the courthouse to limit movement and police were patrolling the area by car, bike and foot.
The courthouse sits less than a mile from the US Capitol, where Trump’s supporters smashed windows, attacked law enforcement and poured into the House and Senate chambers to halt Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory on January 6, 2021.
Trump will appear at the same courthouse where more than 1,000 of his supporters fueled by his false claims of election fraud have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump is charged with conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and obstructing an official proceeding. He’s also accused of violating a post-Civil War era civil rights statute that prohibits conspiring to interfere with rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution — in this case, the right to vote and have one’s vote counted.
It’s the third time this year that the early 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner will have to answer to criminal charges in court.
It comes nearly two months after Trump pleaded not guilty to dozens of federal felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and thwarting government efforts to retrieve them.
