Former US president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 37 criminal charges in a Miami, Florida federal court. Trump faces federal criminal charges including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was present in the courtroom Tuesday, unsealed the charges against Trump last Friday.
In a short proceeding before US Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, Trump’s attorneys entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of the former president. Federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ), operating under the direction of Smith, then agreed to release Trump on bond ahead of the start of the trial. Goodman also issued a no-contact order, which bars Trump from discussing the case with any potential witnesses called by the prosecution. The proceedings mark the first time in American history that a former president has been charged with federal crimes.
Trump’s co-defendant and former aide Waltine Nauta was also set to be arraigned Tuesday. However, Nauta’s arraignment was postponed because he was unable to obtain local counsel.
No cameras were allowed inside the courtroom. Instead, Judge Goodman permitted 20 members of the press inside the courtroom to cover the proceedings.
According to those present, Trump hardly reacted to the proceedings and did not once speak. Later on Tuesday night, however, Trump appeared at a scheduled campaign event in Bedminster, New Jersey. There, Trump referred to the arraignment as the “most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country.” Neither the DOJ nor the White House has commented on the ongoing proceedings since Smith’s press conference last Friday.
In addition to Tuesday’s case, Trump also faces another federal criminal investigation into his conduct surrounding the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riot. At the state and local level, Trump also faces 34 counts of “falsifying business records in the first degree”—which he pleaded not guilty to in April—in a New York criminal case and a potential election interference case in Atlanta, Georgia.
