Donald Trump pleads not guilty to election charges in latest arraignment

BBC News:

Former US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty in a Washington DC court to conspiring to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

During a short arraignment, he spoke softly to confirm his not-guilty plea, name and age, and that he was not under the influence of any substances.

He later told reporters the case was “persecution of a political opponent”.

It marks the former president’s third appearance in four months as a criminal defendant.

Mr Trump entered through a backdoor of the courthouse on Thursday afternoon in the centre of the nation’s capital, just yards from the scene of the US Capitol riot that is central to the prosecution’s case.

About 1,000 defendants charged with participating in the storming of Congress on 6 January 2021 have appeared in the same court building.