USA

Trump to plead not guilty to charges in revised election indictment

This combination of pictures created on Aug. 27, 2024 shows Special Counsel Jack Smith (L) in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2023 and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Howell, Michigan, Aug. 20, 2024.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said in a court filing on Tuesday that he would plead not guilty to criminal charges in a revised indictment accusing him of attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Trump, the Republican candidate in the November 5 presidential election, waived his right to appear in court and instead authorized his lawyers to enter the plea.

The revised indictment, obtained last week by Special Counsel Jack Smith, includes the same four charges prosecutors brought against Trump last year. He was accused of attempting to defraud the United States, obstruct congressional certification of the election and deprive voters of their right to a fair vote.

The new indictment dropped and reframed certain allegations after the U.S. Supreme Court determined that Trump has broad immunity from criminal prosecution over official actions he took as president.

Trump appeared in federal court in Washington in August 2023 to plead not guilty to the charges in the initial indictment.

Prosecutors and Trump's lawyers are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday to determine the next steps after the Supreme Court's immunity ruling.