Donald Trump pleads not guilty to classified documents charges

Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 charges related to alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Trump’s lawyers asked for a jury trial during the former president’s arraignment Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Miami.

“We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche told the judge.
Before the arraignment, deputy marshals booked the former president and took electronic copies of his fingerprints. They did not to take a mugshot of Trump since he is easily recognizable. The booking process took about 10 minutes.

Trump’s aide and co-defendant, Walt Nauta was also arrested, fingerprinted and processed.

The criminal charges in the Justice Department’s classified documents case escalates the legal jeopardy surrounding the 2024 GOP front-runner.

Tuesday’s hearing is expected to be procedural in nature. Trump will enter a plea, there will be a discussion of the conditions of his pretrial release, and it’s possible that potential restrictions around Trump’s conduct as the case moves forward are brought up.

Special counsel Jack Smith is attending the arraignment.

Trump is facing 37 felony counts, alleging he illegally retained national defense information and that he concealed documents in violation of witness-tampering laws in the Justice Department’s probe into the materials.

Nauta, Trump’s close aide, was also charged in the indictment, unsealed Friday, which alleges the two men engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct the federal investigation. Nauta also will be appearing in court.