Trump Pleads Not Guilty to New Charges In Classified Documents Case

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers remarks an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 8, 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump on Friday pleaded not guilty to three new felony charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith in a superseding indictment in a case that accuses the former president of mishandling classified documents.

In an Aug. 4 court filing viewed by The Epoch Times, Mr. Trump confirmed he had received a copy of the updated indictment—which brings the total number of charges in the case to 40—and was entering a plea of “not guilty.”

The filing also shows that Mr. Trump waived his right to be present during a scheduled Aug. 10 arraignment on the three additional charges brought by Mr. Smith in the July 27 superseding indictment (pdf).

Originally, Mr. Smith indicted the 45th president on 37 counts in connection with allegations that Mr. Trump willfully retained classified documents, obstructed justice, and made false statements. At the time, Mr. Trump denounced the charges as politically motivated and labeled the case the “box hoax.”

On June 13, Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 charges, which include alleged violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes unauthorized possession of defense information.

New Charges

On July 27, Mr. Smith’s team accused Mr. Trump in an updated indictment of conspiring with his staff to delete some security footage so that the grand jury in the case would not see all the evidence.

In the superseding indictment, the special counsel charged Mr. Trump with willful retention of national defense information and two charges in connection to claims that he allegedly told a Mar-a-Lago worker to delete security tapes to prevent a grand jury from seeing them.

Mar-a-Lago staffer Carlos De Oliveira has been named as a third defendant in the superseding indictment, along with Trump aide Walt Nauta and the former commander-in-chief.

After the new charges were announced, Mr. Trump took to his social media platform to deny the new charges, calling Mr. Smith’s new allegation a “lie” that is tantamount to election interference ahead of the 2024 contest.

“The security tapes being deleted was a made up lie by deranged Jack Smith! Election interference,” Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Aug. 1.

More Details

Prosecutors allege in the superseding indictment that Mr. De Oliveira told another Mar-a-Lago employee that “the boss” wanted a server “deleted” on June 27, 2022. That came about two months before FBI agents raided the Palm Beach resort owned by Mr. Trump, uncovering allegedly classified documents in a storage area.

Mr. Trump has said he used his presidential authority to declassify all the relevant documents in the case against him and has denied that he hid any materials from the government.

In a statement following the July 27 announcement of the new charges, Mr. Trump’s campaign said that the new allegations were part of a “continued desperate and flailing attempt” to harass the current GOP frontrunner amid his 2024 reelection campaign.

“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,” the campaign team wrote.

The latest polling data shows Mr. Trump and President Joe Biden running neck-and-neck in a race that appears too close to call.

2020 Election Case

The former president, who is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is involved in a number of legal disputes.

A New York grand jury has indicted Mr. Trump for allegedly falsifying business records in connection with a payment to adult performer Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

Also in New York, Mr. Trump faces a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleging fraud.

Mr. Smith has also charged Mr. Trump over his alleged involvement in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In an indictment (pdf) filed on Aug. 1, the special counsel charged the former president with criminal conspiracies to defraud the United States, to obstruct the certification of votes for Mr. Biden on Jan. 6, 2021, and against citizens’ right to vote.

“The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false claims of election fraud,” the indictment alleges.

The indictment alleges that Mr. Trump falsely claimed that the 2020 election was “stolen,” instilling his supporters with outrage that led to protesters breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Although the vast majority of the large crowd remained peaceful, a sizable number of agitators turned violent. More than 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the events of that day.

Mr. Trump on Aug. 3 pleaded not guilty to the Jan. 6 charges, which carry a potential sentence of decades behind bars.

While on route to his court appearance on Aug. 3, Mr. Trump took to his Truth Social account and railed against the contrast between his situation and that of Mr. Biden and his family.

House Republicans are investigating a multimillion-dollar alleged “influence peddling” scandal involving his son Hunter Biden during Mr. Biden’s years as vice president under President Barack Obama.

“Biden and his family steal millions and millions of dollars, including bribes from foreign countries, and I’m headed to D.C. to be arrested for protesting a crooked election. Unfair venue, unfair judge. We are a nation in decline,” Mr. Trump wrote.

He ended the post with “MAGA!!!” That’s the acronym for his oft-repeated “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.

Mr. Biden has denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings.

On Friday morning, Mr. Trump took to Truth Social to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to step in amid a barrage of legal battles that he faces.

“It is Election Interference, & the Supreme Court must intercede. MAGA!” he wrote.

Janice Hisle contributed to this report.