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Donald Trump<\/strong> was arraigned on Thursday and pleaded not guilty<\/a> to a whole bunch of crimes. If that sounds familiar, it\u2019s because it\u2019s the third time he\u2019s done it since April, on account of having engaged in all kinds of alleged criminal activity, including hush money payments to a porn star<\/a> and willful retention of classified documents<\/a>, with some possible conspiracy to obstruct justice on the side. In this case, today\u2019s not guilty plea was in response to the Justice Department indicting him<\/a> for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, and accusing him of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.<\/p>\n The four charges alone, should Trump be convicted, could result in decades in prison<\/a>; the sentence for obstructing an official proceeding carries a penalty of up to 20 years behind bars. The judge randomly assigned to the election case, Tanya Chutkan,<\/strong> has handed down some of the toughest sentences<\/a> of all her colleagues when it comes to January 6 defendants. At one sentencing last year, she declared: \u201cIt is not patriotism, it is not standing up for America to stand up for one man\u2014who knows full well that he lost\u2014instead of the Constitution he was trying to subvert.\u201d In 2021, she ruled that the January 6 committee could access documents from Trump\u2019s time in the White House\u2014a decision that was affirmed by an appeals court\u2014saying, \u201cPresidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has naturally spent the days since he was indicted ranting on Truth Social about how he\u2019s being unfairly persecuted and claiming \u201cElection Interference<\/a>.\u201d He\u2019s also baselessly suggested that Joe Biden<\/strong> directed<\/a> Attorney General Merrick Garland<\/strong> to charge him \u201cwith as many crimes as can be concocted\u201d as retribution for doing well in the polls. (As an aside, he also appeared to suggest he\u2019ll use the Justice Department to go after his enemies should he win a second term, writing \u201cSOON, IN 2024, IT WILL BE OUR TURN.\u201d) Prior to his arraignment, he wrote<\/a> on Truth Social, the social media network he founded after being kicked off of Twitter following the insurrection: \u201cI AM NOW GOING TO WASHINGTON, D.C., TO BE ARRESTED FOR HAVING CHALLENGED A CORRUPT, RIGGED, & STOLEN ELECTION. IT IS A GREAT HONOR, BECAUSE I AM BEING ARRESTED FOR YOU. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!\u201d (Throughout his indictments and the criminal investigations that preceded them, Trump has attempted to convince<\/a> his followers that they are also at risk of being prosecuted for the various crimes he\u2019s been accused of committing.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear at this time when Trump will actually go to trial for attempting to overturn the election. Special counsel Jack Smith<\/strong> has said it should be a \u201cspeedy trial,\u201d while an attorney for Trump told<\/a> Today<\/em>\u2019s Savannah Guthrie<\/strong> on Wednesday that Trump should be given \u201cyears\u201d to ready his defense. In the classified-documents case, the ex-president\u2019s legal team had asked<\/a> a judge to put the trial off until after the election, which she denied (the trial is scheduled<\/a> for May 2024.) The hush money trial is scheduled<\/a> for March of next year.<\/p>\n Of course, these are, somehow, not the only legal matters the former guy is facing. There\u2019s also the strong possibility that he will soon be criminally charged<\/a> by the Fulton County district attorney\u2019s office for trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. On Tuesday, Fulton County sheriff Pat Labat<\/strong> said<\/a> that should Trump be indicted, his arraignment will include one aspect that the three previous ones have not: a mug shot. \u201cUnless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesn\u2019t matter your status, we\u2019ll have a mug shot ready for you,\u201d Labat said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n