Trump heads to court on charges of trying to overturn 2020 election defeat
By Sarah N. Lynch and Jacqueline Thomsen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump was on his way to a Washington courtroom on Thursday to face charges he led a wide-ranging conspiracy built on lies to overturn the 2020 presidential election, culminating in an attack on the seat of American democracy.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, left his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and headed to the airport just after 1 p.m. ET (1700 GMT), about three hours before his scheduled court appearance.
He was expected to enter a plea of not guilty before a magistrate judge, half a mile (1 km) from the U.S. Capitol, the building his supporters stormed on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to stop Congress from certifying his defeat.
In a 45-page indictment on Tuesday, Special Counsel Jack Smith accused Trump and his allies of promoting false claims that the election was rigged, pressuring state and federal officials to alter the results and assembling fake slates of electors to try to wrest electoral votes from Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump faces four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., to deprive citizens of their right to have their votes counted and to obstruct an official proceeding. The most serious charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
In a series of posts on his social media site, Trump framed the indictment as a contrivance to derail his campaign, while his campaign issued a statement comparing the Biden administration to fascist regimes.
The indictment is the third in four months for Trump. He has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he retained classified documents after leaving office and New York state charges that he falsified documents in
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