Judge Addresses 'Death Penalty' Rumors as Trump Pleads Not Guilty

The Magistrate clarified the penalty for Donald Trump's conspiracy against rights charges—arguably pulling the plug on death penalty rumors—and Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony charges during Thursday's arraignment in Washington, D.C., in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, culminating in the Jan. 6 Capitol Riots.

Special counsel Jack Smith announced the indictment on Tuesday, charging Trump with 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. The last charge refers to an effort to "injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate" people in regard to their constitutional rights. In this case, rights refers to the right to have one's vote fairly counted.

Despite rumors that Trump could face the death penalty, Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya clarified during the arraignment that the maximum penalty for the charge of conspiracy against rights is 10 years.

Appearing before Upadhyaya at the federal courthouse, Trump reportedly appeared more engaged with his attorneys and more involved with his team, compared with his appearance during his April arraignment in Manhattan in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

Smith's Tuesday announcement marked the third indictment against Trump and his second federal indictment. The former president has denied wrongdoing in all of the current cases against him.

Before Thursday's arraignment, Michael McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney, told Newsweek it would be important for the judge to address Trump's ongoing actions directed at Smith and other federal prosecutors on the case.

The former president has repeatedly criticized Smith and the Department of Justice, calling the DOJ's special counsel a "deranged lunatic" and accusing his team of weaponizing the federal government against him.

"Trump is a federal criminal defendant in two pending cases and a defendant in a state prosecution," McAuliffe said. "Explicit attempts to intimidate the participants in the case––whether witnesses, potential jurors, lawyers or the judge––must be addressed. That process of setting boundaries for Trump's behavior during the pendency of the case could, and should, start at the arraignment as part of the bond."

On Thursday, extra security precautions were taken ahead of Trump's arrival. Heavily armed men wearing tactical gear and rifles were seen arriving at the courthouse early in the morning. Deputy U.S. marshals and Secret Service agents were seen patrolling the building.

In April, Trump became the first former president to be indicted. Manhattan's district attorney charged him with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to Daniels, an adult film actress, shortly before the 2020 election. Trump pleaded not guilty.

Two months later, he was indicted on 37 federal charges concerning the mishandling of classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He pleaded not guilty to those charges. Last week, Smith announced three more charges against Trump in a superseding indictment in that case.

There is still another indictment possibly coming for the former president. In Fulton County, Georgia, Trump and his allies have been investigated for their attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in that state. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to present her case to a grand jury later this month.

The latest federal case was randomly assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a Barack Obama appointee who has presided over the trials in several January 6 cases. She is also the judge who denied Trump's efforts in 2021 to shield his White House records from the House committee investigating the Capitol riot.

In her ruling, Chutkan wrote, "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."