Former President Trump released on bond under strict rules after not-guilty plea to election conspiracy charges

Kevin Breuninger, Dan Mangan, Amanda Macias, Spencer Kimball
CNBC
Fri, 04 Aug 2023 09:37 UTC

© Alex Brandon | APValet Walt Nauta hands former President Donald Trump an umbrella before Trump speaks at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia, Aug. 3, 2023, after Trump pleaded not guilty to federal charges that allege he conspired to subvert the 2020 election.

Former President Donald Trump entered a not-guilty plea to Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya, who set the date for his next hearing as Aug. 28.

Former President Donald Trump was arraigned Thursday at the E. Barrett Prettyman courthouse in Washington, D.C., on criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump entered a not-guilty plea to Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya, who set the date for his next hearing as Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. before Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Trump is a leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The first GOP debate in the 2024 presidential race is Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Trump has already pleaded not guilty in two other criminal cases. He was last arraigned in June on federal charges stemming from his retention of classified records after he left office in 2021.

The courthouse where the arraignment took place is just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol where, on Jan. 6, 2021, a violent mob of the then-president's supporters broke through police barricades and forced members of Congress to flee for their safety.

The mob, made up of people who believed Trump's lies that the 2020 election was rigged through widespread election fraud, temporarily blocked Congress from confirming President Joe Biden's victory over Trump.

As the chaos played out, Trump and his co-conspirators "exploited the disruption" by pushing lawmakers to delay the certification, the indictment alleges.

Trump was ordered not to discuss facts with witnesses, but this could be difficult

Trump — who loves talking to people both in person and on social media — got a clear warning at his arraignment against talking too much to people who might be witnesses in the election conspiracy case he now faces.

It's a restriction that could prove especially difficult for Trump.

Several of the people who worked in the Trump White House in its final months, the period during which prosecutors allege that Trump illegally sought to overturn the election results, still work for him.

As Trump boarded his plane back to New Jersey, he was accompanied by his valet, Walt Nauta, himself a defendant in another federal criminal case pending against the former president in Florida. There, Trump is accused of retaining classified national security records after he left office.

The federal judge there told Trump not to talk to Nauta directly about the case. But the men routinely spend hours together, sometimes alone.

Trump also has a strong tendency to spout off about the trio of criminal cases he faces on Truth Social, his social media site that he has embraced after being banned by Twitter in early 2021.

Federal prosecutors in a prior criminal case against Trump's friend Roger Stone asked a judge to ratchet up a gag order in that case after Stone posted an Instagram photo of the judge next to a rifle scope's crosshairs.

Comment: From Breitbart:

Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday asked a judge to issue a protective order in the case against former President Donald Trump over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election after Trump made a post on Truth Social.

On Friday, Trump posted the following message to his Truth Social account: "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU."

Now, Smith is using that post to argue Trump's access to the discovery in his criminal case should be restricted. Smith's proposed order seeks to prevent "improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public," according to a four-page filing.

"Such a restriction is particularly important in this case because the defendant has previously issued public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him," Smith argued before referencing Trump's Truth Social post. "And in recent days, regarding this case, the defendant has issued multiple posts either specifically or by implication including the following, which the defendant posted just hours ago."

"If the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details or, for example, grand jury transcripts obtained in discovery here, it could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case," Smith argued.

A Trump spokesperson defended the Truth Social post as "political speech" and denied it was in reference to the criminal case.

"The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech, and was in response to the RINO, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs, like the ones funded by the Koch brothers and the Club for No Growth," the spokesperson said.

More from the Daily Caller:

Former President Donald Trump joked Friday that he would win the 2024 election if he was hit with "one more indictment" during a speech before a dinner held by the Alabama Republican Party.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges during his Thursday arraignment after Special Counsel Jack Smith secured a four-count indictment of Trump relating to his efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election after Smith previously secured a 37-count indictment against Trump in June based on an investigation into allegations surrounding classified documents.

"They wanted to wait, and they did wait," Trump said. "They waited right to the middle of an election and they waited until I became the dominant force in the polls because we're dominating everybody, including Biden in the polls, and then they filed 'em all, every one of of all that essentially one time, including local DA's and AGs that even other cases right in the middle of the campaign, where we're leading by so much and that's not going to make any impact, because every time they file an indictment, we go way up in the polls. We need one more indictment to close out this election, one more indictment and this election is closed out. Nobody has even a chance."

...

Legal experts noted that much of the conduct Smith claimed was criminal in the indictment appeared to be protected by the First Amendment. Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz said that the indictment not only attacked the First Amendment, but also Trump's Sixth Amendment right to counsel.