Donald Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty at a federal court in Miami, Florida on historic charges of mishandling classified documents. Mr Trump is the first US president – current or former – to be hit with a federal criminal indictment.
He will be spared a mugshot, but is expected to be digitally fingerprinted and submit a DNA sample by swab.
Small crowds of Trump supporters and counter-protesters were outside the Wilkie D Ferguson Jr court in downtown Miami.
Mr Trump, 76, was driven by motorcade from the Trump National Doral resort – where he spent the night – to court for his arraignment. The black SUVs drove into an underground garage at the complex.
He was processed alongside a close aide, Walt Nauta, who is charged with six criminal counts related to alleged mishandling of national security documents.
During the drive to court, several messages were posted to Mr Trump’s account on the social media platform Truth Social, including one in all capital letters saying: “One of the saddest days in the history of our country. We are a nation in decline!!!”
Alina Habba, a lawyer attorney for the former president, repeated the former president’s claims that the charges were politically motivated as she addressed media outside court.
“We are at a turning point in our nation’s history, the targeting prosecution of a leading political opponent is the type of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela,” she told reporters.
“What is being done to the President Trump should terrify all citizens of this country,” she added.
Appearing before a judge, Mr Trump is expected to deny 37 counts of illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to get them back.
After the arraignment he will be processed by the court system. Instead of facing the humiliation of a booking photo, the US Marshals Service – which secures federal courts – will use a previously taken photo of Mr Trump, officials at the court briefed journalists on Tuesday morning.
News organisations were not allowed to take photos inside the court.
The Republican former president is expected to be joined in court by attorneys Todd Blanche and Chris Kise. Mr Trump will continue to meet with other Florida lawyers this week after two of his attorneys quit last week.
The charges, which were made public on Friday, came after FBI agents found more than 100 documents with classified markings at Mr Trump’s private Florida estate Mar-a-Lago in August.
They allegedly contained information about the defence and weapons capabilities of both the US and foreign countries, as well as plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.
Prosecutors accuse him of hoarding the files, storing some in a ballroom and a bathroom, and of engaging in a conspiracy with an aide to obstruct the FBI’s inquiry.
Mr Trump’s legal troubles appear not to have diminished his support among Republican voters. He remains the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
A poll by the BBC’s US partner CBS found 76% of likely Republican primary voters were more concerned about the indictment being politically motivated than about the documents posing a national security risk.
In an interview with a Spanish-language radio programme on Monday, Mr Trump accused the Biden administration of weaponising law enforcement agencies against him.
Protocol dictates that the Department of Justice, the federal agency that enforces US law, should operate independently from the White House. President Joe Biden said last week: “I have never once – not one single time – suggested to the justice department what they should do.”
Legal experts say the criminal charges could lead to substantial prison time if Mr Trump is convicted. He has vowed, however, to continue his campaign for president whatever the verdict.
Mr Trump’s court appearance is his second in less than three months. He was arraigned in April in New York on charges that he falsified business records for a hush-money payment to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
