Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he conspired to over-turn his 2020 election defeat when he appeared in a Washington DC court today.

The former President told his supporters “I’m being arrested for you” in a series of social media posts while on his private plane to attend court.

Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal conspiracy charges accusing him of plotting to subvert the will of voters and overturn his 2020 election loss.

Before entering his plea, Trump answered basic questions from the judge and was informed of the charges against him and the potential penalties. The most serious charges call for up to 20 years in prison.

Trump appeared before a magistrate judge in Washington’s federal courthouse two days after being indicted on four felony counts by special counsel Jack Smith. The charges mark the first effort to try to hold Trump criminally responsible for his efforts to block the transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, is facing charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct Congress’ certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.

It comes nearly two months after Trump pleaded not guilty to dozens of federal felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and thwarting government efforts to retrieve them.

Trump says he is innocent, and his legal team has characterized the latest case as an attack on his right to free speech.

Today’s appearance required for Trump to be fingerprinted, however, he was not placed in handcuffs and was not required to pose for a mug shot.

Trump has entered the courtroom where he will appear before a federal judge on charges accusing him of plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Trump, wearing a suit and red tie, sat at the defence table and chatted with his lawyers while waiting for the hearing to begin in Washington’s federal courthouse. At one point, he scribbled notes on a piece of paper in front of him and handed it to his lawyer.

He’s charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and other crimes.

Special counsel Jack Smith is sitting in the courtroom’s front row.

Three police officers who defended the US Capitol against violent rioters on Jan. 6, 2021 are in the courtroom for Donald Trump’s hearing.

Daniel Hodges and Aquilino Gonnell were injured, and Harry Dunn was chased by violent protesters. Hodges was a District of Columbia police officer, and Dunn and Gonnell worked for the US Capitol police, tasked with protecting the Capitol and the lawmakers inside.

“All I have wanted from day one is accountability,” Dunn said in a statement released by his lawyer after he went into the federal court in Washington, DC.

Trump is appearing before a federal judge to surrender on charges that he plotted to overturn his 2020 defeat in the election. Special counsel Jack Smith entered the courtroom shortly after the officers were seen inside.

“Our democracy is worth fighting for. Not prosecuting is far riskier than having no consequences for the alleged power grab attempts,” Gonell said in a statement.

Trump has arrived at the federal courthouse in Washington to surrender to authorities on charges that he plotted to overturn his 2020 defeat in the presidential election.

Trump’s motorcade made its way through DC’s crowded streets, using lights and sirens — a journey documented in wall-to-wall cable coverage once again — and onlookers flanked the streets as the former president arrived at the courthouse.

Trump, wearing a suit and red tie, departed from his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club after 1pm local time to be flown by private plane to Washington.

The motorcade of former President Donald Trump arrives at the Federal Courthouse. Photo / Alex Brandon, AP

In what’s become a familiar but nonetheless stunning ritual, he will be processed by law enforcement and enter a not-guilty plea in front of a judge. He’s expected to then be released as the case proceeds, enabling him to rejoin the campaign trail as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024.

It’s the third criminal case filed against Trump this year, but the first to try to hold him criminally responsible for his efforts to cling to power in the weeks between his election loss and the Capitol attack that stunned the world as it unfolded live on TV.

Media and protesters gather Federal Courthouse in anticipation of Donald Trump's arrival to answer to charges that he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Photo / Jacquelyn Martin, AP

Trump has denied all charges. Before taking off, Trump took to social media to again criticise the case as politically motivated and repeat his claim that the 2020 election was “crooked”.

Before leaving his Bedminster estate for the court in Washington DC, the president wrote on Truth Social: “I NEED ONE MORE INDICTMENT TO ENSURE MY ELECTION!”

Authorities were stepping up security at the federal courthouse in Washington hours before Trump arrive.

Former President Donald Trump waves as he steps off his plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, as he heads to Washington to face a judge on federal conspiracy charges to subvert the 2020 election. Photo / Alex Brandon, AP

Dozens of police officers and vehicles were stationed near the courthouse.

Law enforcement has set up metal barricades near the courthouse to limit movement and police were patrolling the area by car, bike and foot.

An indictment from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith charges Trump with four felony counts related to his efforts to undo his presidential election loss in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, including conspiracy to defraud the US government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The charges could lead to a prison sentence in the event of a conviction.

The Republican former president was the only person charged in the case, though prosecutors referenced six unnamed co-conspirators, mostly lawyers, they say he plotted with, including in a scheme to enlist fake electors in seven battleground states won by Democrat Joe Biden to submit false certificates to the federal government.

The indictment chronicles how Trump and his Republican allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a “bedrock function of the US government”, repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power.

Donald Trump boarding his plane at Newark Liberty International Airport, headed to appear in a federal courthouse on charges of trying to block the peaceful transfer of power. Photo / Seth Wenig, AP

This is the third criminal case brought against Trump in less than six months.

He was charged in New York with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential campaign. Smith’s office also has charged him with 40 felony counts in Florida, accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents at his Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago, and refusing government demands to give them back. He has pleaded not guilty in both those cases, which are set for trial next year.

And prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, are expected in the coming weeks to announce charging decisions in an investigation into efforts to subvert election results in that state.

Trump’s lawyer John Lauro has asserted in television interviews that Trump’s actions were protected by the First Amendment right to free speech and that he relied on the advice of lawyers. Trump has claimed without evidence that Smith’s team is trying to interfere with the 2024 presidential election, in which Trump is the early front-runner to claim the Republican nomination.

Nadine Seiler arrives to celebrate the indictment of former President Donald Trump at the Federal Courthouse. Photo / Jacquelyn Martin, AP

Smith said in a rare public statement this week that he was seeking a speedy trial, though Lauro has said he intends to slow the case down so that the defence team can conduct its own investigation.

The arraignment will be handled before US Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadyaha, who joined the bench last year. But going forward, the case will be presided over by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of President Barack Obama who has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of the Capitol rioters.

Chutkan has also ruled against Trump before, refusing in November 2021 to block the release of documents to the US House’s January 6 committee by asserting executive privilege.

Meanwhile, a Michigan attorney involved in multiple efforts around the country to overturn the 2020 election in support of Trump has been charged in connection with accessing and tampering with voting machines in Michigan, according to court records.

The charges against Stefanie Lambert come days after Matthew DePerno, a Republican lawyer who Trump endorsed in an unsuccessful run for Michigan attorney general last year, and former Republican State Representative Daire Rendon were arraigned in connection with the case.

Lambert, DePerno and Rendon were named by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office last year as having “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators”.

Michigan is one of at least three states where prosecutors say people breached election systems while embracing and spreading Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

Donald Trump claimed the election result was rigged. Photo / Don Campbell, The Herald-Palladium via AP, File

Investigators there say five vote tabulators were illegally taken from three counties and brought to a hotel room, according to documents released last year by Nessel’s office. The tabulators were then broken into and “tests” were performed on the equipment.

Lambert, who is listed in court records under the last name Lambert-Junttila, is charged with undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy, according to court records. She is scheduled to be arraigned in Oakland County, according to a judge’s schedule.

She did not immediately respond to requests for comment left by email and a phone message with her attorney.

On a conservative podcast appearance last week, Lambert said that she had been notified of an indictment and had an arraignment scheduled for August 3. She claimed no wrongdoing and said Hilson was “misrepresenting the law”.

Special prosecutor DJ Hilson has been considering charges since September. He convened a grand jury in March to determine whether criminal indictments should be issued, court documents show.

In his statement following the arraignments of DePerno and Rendon, Hilson said “an independent citizens grand jury” authorised charges and that his office did not make any recommendations.

Hilson did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on Lambert’s charges.

Hilson was named as a special prosecutor on the case after the attorney general’s office determined there was a conflict of interest as Nessel, a Democrat, ran against DePerno in 2022. DePerno was named as a “prime instigator” in the case.

Some of the defendants have argued local clerks gave them permission to take the machines. DePerno has said he “categorically denies any wrongdoing”.

A state judge ruled last month that it is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, to take a machine without a court order or permission directly from the Secretary of State’s office.

Trump, who is now making his third bid for the presidency, was charged by the US Department of Justice on August 1 with conspiracy to defraud the United States among other counts related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Nessel announced last month eight criminal charges each against 16 Republicans who she said submitted false certificates as electors for then-President Trump in Michigan, a state Joe Biden won.

- Michael Kunzelman, Eric Tucker & Nomaa Merchant, AP