Former President Donald Trump was seen boarding his private jet on his way to turn himself in for arraignment after his indictment for his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election in Washington D.C. on Thursday, August 3. He arrived in court to plead in Washington D.C. to plead in the case, focusing in on his alleged involvement, which led to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The former president had been indicted on four counts following a Justice Department investigation.
The photo was seen of Trump climbing aboard his gigantic jet with his name printed on the side. He was leaving his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey to arrive in Washington D.C. After he landed at Reagan International Airport in Virginia, he quickly moved to the motorcade, which pulled him into a garage under the courthouse. After he arrived he was placed in custody and taken for arraignment.
The former president’s arrest came just two days after he was indicted on August 1, following an investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Trump was charged with four criminal counts consisting of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. The indictment came nearly nine months after the House Select Committee recommended four criminal charges for Trump.
Trump is expected to plead “not guilty” to the charges. The case will be overseen by Judge Tanya Chutkan, who had been appointed by former President Barack Obama. In the past, she blocked Trump’s efforts to have his White House records kept from the House Select Committee investigating January 6 from obtaining his documents, per The New York Times.
After the indictment was unsealed, Smith released a statement, speaking about how Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the election led to the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol. “The attack on our nation’s capital on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government, the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election,” he said.
Since the indictment, Trump made many posts criticizing the decision on his Truth Social platform, calling it a “fake indictment” and accusing President Joe Biden of using the Justice Dept. to interfere in the 2024 election. “Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct,” he wrote.
This arrest will be Trump’s third this year. He was first arrested in New York City, after he was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business documents, with one of them being an alleged hush money payment to adult star Stormy Daniels. His second arrest was in Florida, after he was federally indicted for mishandling classified documents. He was originally charged on 37 counts, but he later received three more charges. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, and he has denied having an affair with Daniels.