WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump on Monday revealed why he didn’t appear at his Georgia arraignment last month on election-tampering charges — citing his outrage over cameras in the courtroom.
“Why would I fly down to Atlanta just to hear over a dozen FALSE CHARGES brought against me on live TV?” raged Trump — who faces 13 counts in just the latest of four criminal indictments against him — in a fundraising e-mail.
“A judge ruled that all of my court proceedings in Atlanta will be TELEVISED for the entire country to watch,” Trump said.
“The Communist Democrats would love nothing more than for me to be stuck in court in a televised spectacle as a way to keep me off the campaign trail.
“But I refuse to play into the Left’s hands. That’s why I have waived my in-person formal arraignment and simply pleaded ‘NOT GUILTY’ to the indictment in the Georgia witch hunt,” he said.
Trump, 77, is accused of violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering law, conspiracy, filing false documents, making false statements and asking a public official to violate their oath of office so he could remain in power despite losing the 2020 presidential election.
On Thursday, he signed a court document pleading not guilty, opting to enter his plea on paper instead of in-person before a judge at arraignment.
While he did not make a public statement afterward, his campaign team issued the e-mail, quoting Trump’s exasperation with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling last week to let media record the court proceedings in the case.
Keeping track of all of Trump’s indictments
Former President Donald Trump is facing 91 charges in four different criminal cases following his time in office.
Here are all of the legal troubles Trump will face as he heads toward the 2024 election.
Mar-a-Lago classified docs
- Trump is the first former president to receive a federal indictment.
- Trump is accused of taking around 11,000 documents, some containing sensitive national security secrets, and hoarding them in a haphazard manner at his Palm Beach, Florida, estate.
- The most serious charge, in this case, carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Stormy Daniels ‘hush money’
- Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter she claimed the two had.
- Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and is trying to have the case moved to federal court. He is set to appear in court on Jan. 4, 2024.
2020 election overturn bid
- Special counsel Jack Smith charged the ex-president with four counts in connection with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
- Prosecutors charged that the 45th president’s incessant claims of election fraud costing him re-election “were false and [Trump] knew they were false.”
- The indictment is the second brought by Smith against the 77-year-old Trump.
- A mob of Trump supporters breached the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following his speech on the Ellipse.
- The charges against the former president include violation of the Georgia’s anti-racketeering law, conspiracy, false statements, and asking a public official to violate their oath of office.
Georgia 2020 election probe
- Trump and 18 of his allies and supporters were indicted by a Georgia grand jury in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the Peach State.
- The former president faces 13 counts in the case, matching a docket prematurely posted to the Fulton County Superior Court’s website around noon.
New York civil cases
- The former president was sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
- James is alleging that Trump and three of his children lied to banks about his assets and net worth by billions.
- She is seeking a $250 million fine and a ban on Trump doing business in New York state.
- In another civil case, Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
- Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages from Trump.
- Trump was not found guilty of rape after the jury rejected Carroll’s claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room.
In the fundraising message, Trump asked his supporters to “please make a contribution to peacefull defend our movement from the never-ending attacks,” before adding a caveat: “If you’re doing poorly due to the very sad state of our country right now, then don’t even think about donating!”
The money-making email also included a screenshot of the former president’s signature on the court document used to enter his plea.
The court paper, written by his lawyers, refers to him by his preferred title: “President” Donald Trump.
The inclusion of the formal title comes after he was reportedly “irked” that a judge overseeing his arraignment last month in DC District Court referred to him as “Mr. Trump,” dropping the formality to which he’s become accustomed.
Since then, his lawyers have typically referred to him as “President Trump,” “my client” or “the defendant” in court proceedings.
