WASHINGTON: Former President Donald Trump appeared before a federal magistrate in Miami to plead not guilty to charges that he illegally retained dozens of classified national security documents after he left the White House and obstructed government efforts to retrieve them.
Trump became the first former U.S. president to face a federal indictment when a grand jury in Miami last week indicted him on 37 counts in connection with his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
The indictment, which was unsealed on June 9, charges Trump with 31 counts of “willful retention” of national defense information, each count representing a different document that Trump allegedly took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago and refused to return even after being subpoenaed.
The indictment also alleges that Trump showed classified documents on two occasions to others and that he conspired with an aide, Walt Nauta, to keep the documents out of the hands of investigators.
“We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s lawyers, told magistrate judge Jonathan Goodman.
Trump was released on his own recognizance and ordered not to communicate with Nauta and witnesses about the facts of the case. Nauta, a former White House valet and Trump assistant, pleaded not guilty to six counts of obstructing the investigation and lying to investigators.
Each count of “willful retention” of defense information carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The obstruction charges are punishable by up to 20 years.
Trump’s arraignment took place under heavy security at a federal courthouse in downtown Miami. Hundreds of the former president’s supporters converged outside the building. Authorities had feared the rally might turn violent, but the crowd remained peaceful. The court proceedings lasted less than an hour and went without incident.
(VOA)
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