Donald Trump Pleads Not Guilty in Miami Court in Classified Documents Case

Former president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 counts brought against him in a felony case alleging he illegally retained classified documents and conspired to obstruct investigators' probe in the matter.

On the afternoon of June 13, Trump was processed at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in downtown Miami, where his fingerprints were taken and he was arraigned by Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman for the Southern District of Florida.

Judge Goodman was tasked with handling the initial hearing before the case is handed over to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee.

Hundreds of supporters surrounded the courthouse and lined the streets nearby, chanting "We want Trump!" and "Let's go Brandon" (code for "Fuck you, Biden").

Officers from the Miami Police Department blocked off an area in front of the courthouse with their bikes as Trump supporter and activist Laura Loomer held a rally in support of the former president.

Violence nearly broke out about an hour before Trump's arraignment, when a tall man in a gray shirt struck an anti-Trump protester's "Lock him up" sign and tried to order her to leave. Members of the crowd, who at that point were mostly attendees of the rally, tried to defuse the situation by yelling, "She has the right! She has the right!" Others attempted to reignite the fracas by calling the woman a "communist" and a "terrorist."

Trump's attorney Alina Habba made a statement outside the courthouse, insisting, "We are at a turning point in our nation's history."

"The targeting and prosecution of a leading political opponent is the type of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela," she said.

Some of the charges Trump is facing carry a 20-year maximum sentence, though it's unclear whether prosecutors will seek that severe a penalty.

"We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty," Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said during the hearing.

Trump was released with no restrictions on his travel.

He left the courthouse in his motorcade and headed over to the Cuban restaurant Versailles on Calle Ocho, presumably to shore up his already staunch support among conservative members of Miami's Cuban community, who have wholeheartedly embraced his characterization of his Democratic opponents as communists.

On June 12, Judge Goodman denied a motion by a coalition of news organizations seeking to allow a limited amount of photography and videos in and around the courtroom for Trump's arraignment. It would have been an extraordinary concession given that the Southern District of Florida generally has a strict prohibition on photography in the courthouse.

"The Undersigned will start with a common sense jurisdictional point and an observation: I follow the 'stay in your lane' philosophy. My involvement in this case will almost certainly end tomorrow," Goodman wrote on June 12.

Goodman also denied the motion's request for immediate release of the hearing transcript, though he noted he is working with the court reporter to expedite the transcript's publication.

Trump is accused of illegally keeping classified material at Mar-a-Lago, a resort and club where he resides in Palm Beach.

Prosecutors claim that after his presidency, he retained confidential documents concerning the country's "defense and weapons capabilities," "potential vulnerabilities to attack," and nuclear programs, among other sensitive information.

In 2021, at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, he allegedly shared classified material with a representative of his political action committee; in a separate incident that year at the same club, prosecutors say, he divulged classified information to a writer, a publisher, and two members of his staff, none of whom had security clearance.

According to the grand jury indictment, Trump misled FBI agents to believe he was cooperating with the investigation. He directed his aide, Waltine Nauta, who is also charged in the case, to move boxes to conceal classified documents from the FBI, the indictment states.

Trump is facing a separate criminal case in New York state court over his alleged falsification of business records tied to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. No current or former president had been indicted before the New York charges were brought against him.

Despite the legal troubles, the former president has shown no signs of slowing down his 2024 presidential campaign, which is poised to pit him against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary.

Trump has vowed revenge against Biden and called special prosecutor Jack Smith a "thug."

“I will appoint a real special 'prosecutor' to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the USA, Joe Biden, the entire Biden crime family and all others involved with the destruction of our elections, borders and country itself!" he proclaimed on his Truth Social network on June 12.

Loomer and other supporters at the rally insisted Trump is being politically persecuted. She said the U.S. Department of Justice is "trying to jail Trump because they realize he's stronger than ever."

Smith, special counsel appointed to investigate the classified documents case, said in a press conference last week, "We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone."

"Applying those laws, collecting facts, that's what determines the outcome of an investigation. Nothing more and nothing less," Smith said.

Trump is also facing a criminal probe from a Georgia state prosecutor's office in connection with his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.