Former US President Donald Trump pleaded not responsible on Thursday to a wide-ranging Georgia prison indictment associated to his makes an attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
“As evidenced by my signature under, I do hereby waive formal arraignment and enter my plea of NOT GUILTY to the Indictment on this case,” Trump mentioned in a courtroom submitting in Fulton County Superior Courtroom.
The plea implies that Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, won’t seem in individual in courtroom subsequent week to face the fees.
An indictment accuses Trump of 13 felony counts, together with racketeering, for pressuring state officers to reverse his 2020 election loss and allegedly organising a pretend slate of electors to undermine the congressional certification of Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory.
Fulton County prosecutors search an October begin to the trial. A few of Trump’s co-defendants in Georgia, together with lawyer Sidney Powell, Trevian Kutti and Ray Smith, have additionally waived formal arraignment and entered not responsible pleas.
Learn additionally: Trump plans to show himself in on Thursday over Georgia indictment
The 98-page Georgia indictment filed in mid-August prices Trump and 18 different defendants with a complete of 41 prison counts.
The Georgia case is Trump’s fourth indictment. He faces a New York state trial in March involving a hush cash cost to a porn star and a federal trial in Could in Florida for allegedly mishandling federal categorised paperwork.
One other indictment, in Washington federal courtroom, accuses him of illegally in search of to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump is because of stand trial in March 2024 for that case, sooner or later earlier than Republican voters in additional than a dozen US states determine whether or not to provide him an opportunity to recapture the White Home.
Trump has pleaded not responsible in all prison circumstances and will spend a lot of subsequent 12 months in courtroom, at the same time as he campaigns to retake the White Home.