Former President Donald Trump has arrived at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. where he’ll be taken into custody and answer charges that he used “unlawful means” in an attempt to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election and hold on to power.
Trump will be arraigned Thursday afternoon on an indictment charging him with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction; and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.
He is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse around 4 p.m. ET. He left New Jersey, where he has been living during the summer, shortly after 2 p.m. ET.
“I am now going to Washington, D.C. to be arrested for having challenged a corrupt, rigged & stolen election,” Trump wrote in an all-caps post on his social media website Truth Social shortly after noon. He arrived at Reagan National Airport in his private plane emblazoned with his last name shortly before 3 p.m.
Many historic firsts have already been notched. This will be the third time Trump will be arraigned on criminal charges — and the third time a former president will face charges.
Security was tightened in the area around the courthouse ahead of the appearance and possible protests from supporters and detractors of the polarizing former president.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement on social media Wednesday that his agency was “working closely with the Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Capitol Police and the Federal Protective Service to ensure the highest levels of safety and security for the former president, while minimizing disruptions to the normal court process.”
A spokesman for the Marshals Service said Thursday that Trump will be digitally fingerprinted as part of the booking process, but no mugshot will be taken. Officials will use an existing picture of the much-photographed former president as his booking photo.
By 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, about 50 people had already lined up outside in order to attend the proceedings, including several news organizations.
Alina Habba, a legal spokesperson for Trump’s Save America PAC, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse shortly after Trump’s arrival, and maintained Trump “used the law in an appropriate manner” in the weeks after the election. “This,” Habba said, gesturing to the scene outside of the courthouse, “is not appropriate.”
The courthouse is about a block away from the Capitol complex, and roughly a third of a mile away from the U.S. Capitol building, which was stormed by angry Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021 in a bid to prevent the certification of his defeat.
A federal grand jury voted Tuesday to indict Trump following a sprawling investigation by special counsel Jack Smith’s office into Trump’s efforts to remain in power after losing the presidential election.
The indictment alleges Trump engaged in three criminal conspiracies, all aimed at keeping him in the White House.
“Each of these conspiracies — which built on the widespread mistrust the Defendant was creating through pervasive and destabilizing lies about election fraud — targeted a bedrock function of the United States federal government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election,” the indictment said.
Trump, who’s currently the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has denied any wrongdoing and maintains Smith is engaging in “election interference” by bringing criminal charges against him while he seeks to return to the White House.
The case is the second Smith has brought against Trump in two months. In June, Smith brought a 37-count indictment against Trump in Florida on charges of mishandling national security information and obstruction. Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case, which he’s labeled “the boxes hoax.” Trump was hit with additional counts in the case last week.
Trump was also arraigned in New York criminal court in April, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his alleged role in hush money payments toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign.
In all, Trump has been hit with 78 felony counts in the three cases.
A prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, has also said she is considering bringing charges against Trump for trying to reverse his defeat there and could present a case to the grand jury there in the coming weeks.
Trump issued what appeared to be a taunting message to Willis on Truth Social on Thursday. “I need one more indictment to ensure my election!” the post said.
Ken Dilanian contributed.
