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Former President Donald Trump entered pleas of not guilty at an arraignment in Miami on Tuesday after his federal indictment last week on 37 charges including unauthorized retention of classified documents and obstruction of justice.
Trump, who had said he would plead not guilty, is scheduled to travel to New Jersey to give a speech at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster at about 8:15 p.m. Eastern time.
The former president’s appearance in Miami is just one step in a legal battle that will likely take months to play out. His allies have suggested he won’t take a plea deal, and there are expectations that a trial might not take place until next year, as attorneys first could tussle over matters such as motions to dismiss or change-of-venue requests.
Another issue getting attention is that a Trump-appointed judge, Aileen Cannon, has been randomly assigned to oversee the classified-documents case, sparking calls for her to recuse herself. Cannon generated headlines last year for a much-criticized ruling in Trump’s favor in the classified-documents case in which she appointed a special master and temporarily barred prosecutors from records. A three-judge panel later reversed her ruling.
A different judge, Jonathan Goodman, presided over Tuesday’s arraignment.
Trump has been blasting his indictment, including on Saturday during his first public appearances since the 37 charges were unsealed. He described the charges as an attack on his supporters.
“They’ve launched one witch hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people,” Trump told a crowd in Georgia. “In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you.”
But one of Trump’s former attorneys general, William Barr, characterized the latest indictment of his old boss as “very, very damning” and said the “idea of presenting Trump as a victim here, a victim of a witch hunt, is ridiculous.”
Trump, who has a big lead in polls for the 2024 Republican presidential primary, faces other legal troubles as well. He was found liable last month for sexual abuse in a civil lawsuit that accused him of rape. He pleaded not guilty in April to 34 felony charges of falsifying records to hide hush-money payments, and that case in Manhattan is ongoing.
The special counsel in the classified-documents case, Jack Smith, is also conducting a separate probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
In addition, another investigation in Fulton County, Ga., centers on efforts by Trump and his allies to undo that state’s 2020 election result.
Now read: Donald Trump indicted again. Can he still run for president?
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