In a Miami courtroom, former president Donald Trump entered a not guilty plea to federal charges in the case involving the sensitive documents.
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump was taken into custody and lodged at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. US Courthouse on federal charges.
A US Marshals Services official reported that the booking procedures for Trump and his close friend and co-defendant Walt Nauta were finished at 2:05 PM.
‘We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty, one of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, told the judge, according to The New York Times.
Trump did not have a mugshot taken, according to one of his lawyers, Alina Habba.
‘President Trump is in a very unique position where he does not need to be given a mugshot, obviously,’ Habba told reporters outside the courthouse.
‘He’s not a flight risk. He is the leading candidate of the GOP at the moment. He is going through a process that has been coordinated with the Secret Service and it will all be handled seamlessly.’
Trump entered the courtroom for his initial appearance around 2.45pm.
The ex-president arrived at courthouse shortly before 2pm to surrender on criminal charges around his handling of classified documents. His motorcade arrived about an hour before his scheduled 3pm arraignment and drove into an underground garage.
Trump supporters cheered as the motorcade drove in.
Hundreds of Trump fans and hundreds of reporters waited outside the courthouse for him to leave, The New York Times reported. There were also a smaller number of Trump opponents present.
Trump faces 37 felony counts around his alleged mishandling of classified documents that he took with him after leaving the White House to his Mar-a-Lago home.
Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman is presiding over the arraignment.
Nauta also arrived at the Miami courthouse on Trump’s motorcade. His lawyer Stanley Woodward entered the building separately. Nauta did not have a mugshot taken.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the Justice Department’s probe on the classified documents, is attending the arraignment.
Trump’s lawyers Blanche and Chris Kise were expected to appear with the him in the courtroom.
The ex-president’s last post on his Truth Social platform before he entered the courthouse was: ‘ONE OF THE SADDEST DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE!!!’
The trial will be overseen by a Trump appointee, Judge Aileen Cannon, who was randomly assigned. Cannon has previously issued rulings favorable to Trump.
Former First Lady Melania Trump was reportedly in New York City.
Meanwhile, dozens of reporters waited at Trump’s golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey, where he is expected to deliver remarks at 8.15pm.
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