Extract from ABC News
Analysis
In the two and a half years since Donald Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol, more than 1,000 people have been charged.
Some have been tried and convicted in the very building where the former president has just made yet another historic court appearance.
But it was not until today that the man accused by a congressional committee of being the "central cause" of the January 6 attack had to confront any charges of his own.
- As it happened: How the day unfolded inside and outside the court room
- Third indictment explained: What we know about the conspiracy charges
Trump made his way back to Washington to appear in courtroom 22A of the E Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, just over a kilometre from the Capitol building.
The former president mostly sat with his hands clasped together and whispered to his lawyers as he waited for Magistrate Judge Moxila A Upadhyaya to arrive.
At times he appeared to glance around the wood-panelled room packed with journalists and lawyers, including the man leading the case against him, special counsel Jack Smith.
Competition for a seat in the court was intense, with some media outlets sending representatives to line up outside the building 24 hours in advance.
But from a nearby "overflow" room, where large screens carried live footage of the proceedings, we watched as Trump confirmed his name ("Donald J Trump, John", he clarified) and age before listening to the judge read out the new charges against him.
Trump pleaded not guilty to four criminal counts relating to his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
It's the third time in four months that he's been indicted and there's now a familiar pattern to his court appearances, from the motorcade arrival to the fundraising appeals hitting inboxes immediately afterwards.
But that shouldn't take away from the significance of yet another extraordinary historical moment, as a former president fights charges over his handling of the last election, while at the same time campaigning to win the next one.
As University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) law professor Richard Hasen put it, this case "directly implicates American democracy".
"What it sets forth is a story of how Trump tried to steal the election in 2020, and turn himself from an election loser into an election winner," he said.
"If people can get away with that, then our democracy is really at risk."
This indictment could be the most serious yet
The indictment unsealed earlier this week alleges Trump knew his claims of a stolen election were false, but that he spread them anyway in an attempt to stay in power.
It accuses the former president of creating an "intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger", culminating in the January 6 attack.
And it charges him with three criminal conspiracies: to defraud the US; to impede the certification of Joe Biden's election victory; and to violate the right to vote and have it counted.
"Each of these conspiracies … targeted a bedrock function of the United States federal government," the indictment states.
"The nation's process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election."
Trump insists he's done nothing wrong, criticising the charges as politically motivated and arguing prosecutors are trying to interfere with his re-election bid.
His legal team has suggested its defence would include the argument that Trump was protected by the first amendment of the US constitution, which enshrines the right to free speech.
"This is the first time that political speech has been criminalised in the history of the United States," his lawyer John Lauro said this week.
Inside court, Lauro pushed back on the prosecution's calls for a "speedy" trial, arguing Trump's team would need time to mount a fair defence.
Former federal prosecutor Annemarie McAvoy does not expect there'll be a quick resolution.
"There's a big first amendment issue here, that the president has a right to say what he thinks and shouldn't be stifled by the fear of having a criminal prosecution brought against him," she said.
"So there'll be constitutional issues that will be raised in court, those will undoubtedly be appealed by whichever side loses, and may well wind up before the United States Supreme Court.
"So even if they do those things on an expedited schedule, it's still going to take quite some time."
Trump's lawyers have also flagged they'll try to move the case out of Washington, arguing he would not face a fair trial in a city where more than 90 per cent of voters backed Biden in 2020.
But McAvoy does not see that motion succeeding.
"Just because they voted against him doesn't mean you can't get people who can come in and claim at least that they can be unbiased," she said.
"And that they can listen to the evidence and then give a true verdict based on the evidence that they hear, as opposed to who they voted for in the presidential election."
Trump will fight these charges all the way to the 2024 election
After facing court in both New York and Miami, Trump made a point of delivering a televised speech to double down on his criticism of the charges against him in those cases.
This time, he made only a brief statement at the airport as he prepared to board his private jet back to New Jersey.
"This is a very sad day for America," he said.
"When you look at what's happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent.
"This was never supposed to happen in America."
The 77-year-old has managed to rally support off the back of his other two indictments and polls suggest he's still the leading candidate, by far, for the Republican presidential nomination.
Whether that would translate into success at a general election, should he be nominated, is far from clear.
It's not just Republicans he would be courting then, but independent voters who might be put off by the mounting legal dramas and reminders of January 6 in particular.
And while Trump is expected to try to drag each case out for as long as he can, he does still face the possibility of being convicted before polling day.
"Putting aside violent crime, these are probably the most serious political crimes that someone could commit," Hasen said.
"And if proven, I think it would leave history judging Donald Trump as the person who tried to bring down American democracy. That's why I think this case is so monumental."
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