Trump documents case: Ex-president pleads not guilty to additional charges

Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to additional charges filed against him last week in a federal case accusing the former United States president of mishandling secret government documents after he left the White House.

Trump entered his plea on Friday, a court filing showed. He also waived his right to be present in court on August 10 for his arraignment on the three additional charges.

In the charges, federal prosecutors accuse the former president of ordering employees to delete security camera footage at his Florida estate in a push to hinder an investigation into his handling of the government files.

Special Counsel Jack Smith on July 27 also charged a Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker, 56-year-old Carlos De Oliveira, with obstruction of justice among other counts. Another Trump aide, valet Walt Nauta, was previously charged in the case as well.

Trump’s not-guilty plea on Friday comes a day after he also pleaded not guilty to separate federal charges related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The former president and frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination faces three criminal indictments, and a fourth possible case is looming in the US state of Georgia over his push to overturn the 2020 vote.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in all the cases, accusing President Joe Biden’s administration and federal prosecutors of seeking to derail his re-election bid.

In an interview on July 28 with ​​conservative radio host John Fredericks, Trump dismissed the allegations that he ordered the Mar-a-Lago security camera footage sought by the Department of Justice to be deleted.

“These were security tapes. We handed them over to them,” said Trump. “I’m not even sure what they’re saying.”

At a June arraignment in Miami, Florida, Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 charges filed against him in the original indictment. With last month’s updated indictment, he now faces 40 charges in total.

Trump also said last week that he would push forward with his campaign even if he were found guilty and sentenced.

When asked if sentencing would put an end to his 2024 campaign, he told Fredericks: “Not at all. There’s nothing in the constitution to say that it could.”

A federal judge has set the trial date in the documents case for May.