First published in USA Today
A portrait of President Joe Biden hangs in the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, where Donald Trump's photo once got prominent display. And it's where the former president arrived Thursday to face charges over his alleged efforts to steal the 2020 presidential election.
Trump's somber appearance is the latest historic moment in the Washington federal courthouse that saw the Watergate trials and parts of the 1980s Iran-Contra affair.
Trump pleaded not guilty on four counts: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding and Conspiracy Against Rights. It marks Trump's second federal indictment after special counsel Jack Smith was appointed to oversee two criminal investigations into the former president.
Svante Myrick, president of People for the American Way, a progressive advocacy group, said Trump’s third indictment is the most important out of the three he faces.
“This one he was trying to invalidate 80 million people’s votes,” he told USA TODAY, adding that the crimes the former president is accused of in the indictment are “the most serious I could imagine.”
Myrick said the third indictment resonates more with the American people because they watched the culmination of the alleged crimes on their TV screens during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Read the full article in USA Today.