AUG. 31 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump entered a plea of not guilty Thursday in the election subversion case against him in Fulton County, Georgia.
Trump’s attorney Steven Sadow filed the plea with the Superior Court. Trump also waived his right to appear at his arraignment, scheduled for Wednesday, along with his 18 co-defendants.
Trump, who is seeking the GOP nomination for re-election in 2024, is free on a $200,000 bond after surrendering himself to the Fulton County Jail last week. District Attorney Fani Willis is seeking to begin the trial on Oct. 23.
The former president is charged with 13 felony counts in the case, which alleges a conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election result.
Trump again falsely claimed in a statement Wednesday that he won Georgia over President Joe Biden.
“Does anybody really believe I lost Georgia, because I don’t,” he said in a video posted to social media.
Former Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Ray Smith have also pleaded not guilty in the case.
Willis is seeking to try all the co-defendants simultaneously. Attorney Kenneth Chesebro has requested that Judge Scott McAfee sever his trial from the others, seeking a speedy trial.
McAfee has scheduled Chesebro’s trial to start on Oct. 23, but Willis filed a motion Tuesday to clarify whether Chesebro’s trial will move forward separately, or alternatively set aside the case specific order from the judge.
Willis argues that Chesebro has not filed a motion to sever and because no hearing has been held on the matter in court, the order should be dismissed.
Trump has also issued a notice that he plans to sever his trial from Chesebro’s.
The Georgia charges are the fourth criminal case against Trump, following a federal case related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election resulting in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol; a federal case alleging he mishandled classified documents at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate after leaving office; and a New York fraud case related to hush-money payments made to an adult film star.
A March 4 trial date has been set for the federal election interference case in Washington.
