Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Florida to additional charges brought forth by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith in his classified documents case.
ABC News reported Trump declined to enter a plea in person. Instead, attorney Todd Blanche entered the not-guilty plea on his behalf.
Blanche appeared before U.S. District Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard during the brief hearing.
Trump had already pleaded not guilty to dozens of other charges in the case.
New charges were brought against the former president and leading 2024 GOP contender and his longtime aide Walt Nauta as part of a superseding indictment introduced two weeks ago.
Smith accused Trump, Nauta and Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos De Oliveira of deleting surveillance footage at the resort and Trump’s private Florida residence in order to conceal it from a grand jury.
Nauta also entered a plea of not guilty, while De Oliveira will have to wait to enter a plea until he finds legal representation.
Trump and Nauta were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
The former president was also hit with an additional charge related to the Espionage Act, bringing the total felony charges to 40.
When the additional charges in the documents case were announced July 27, Trump’s campaign attacked President Joe Biden and the DOJ.
The Hill reported the campaign issued a statement describing the charges as “nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him.”
“Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden,” it said.
Smith alleges Nauata and De Oliveira worked to clear security camera footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach at the direction of the former president.
Trump has been indicted three times this year — twice by Smith and once by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
In two federal indictments related to the alleged mishandling of classified documents and to Smith’s case related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion, Trump has been charged with a total of 44 felonies — 40 in the classified documents case and four in the 2020 election case.
In New York City, the former president is charged with 34 felony counts of allegedly falsifying business records.
Trump is scheduled to be on trial in each case next year as states hold their respective primaries and as he leads a crowded field of candidates.
The former president also could face charges in Georgia: Reports have indicated an indictment from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is imminent.
NEW: Trump’s allies prepare for indictments in Georgia probe: ‘They’re coming for everyone’ https://t.co/zimFpemlHW
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) August 9, 2023
Trump was accused of election interference in the state after he challenged the official results of the 2020 vote.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
