It will be the third time in four months he will have stood before a judge on criminal charges. But it will be the most momentous, the beginning of what prosecutors say should be a reckoning for his multipronged efforts to undermine one of the core tenets of democracy. The same courthouse where Trump will appear on Thursday before magistrate judge Moxila Upadhyaya has already hosted a stream of trials for Trump supporters accused of attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump’s appearance comes about six weeks after his arraignment in Miami on charges of mishandling government documents after he left the White House and seeking to block investigators.
His second federal arraignment is likely to follow a cadence similar to his first. The US Marshals Service, which is responsible for security inside federal courthouses, will escort him to an area where he will be booked. As in his appearance in Miami, he will not have a mug shot taken, according to a law enforcement official involved in the planning.
The hearing before Judge Upadhyaya, who was appointed to the bench last year, is expected to be relatively straightforward. Trump will be asked to enter a plea to the four charges against him, then the government will be asked to present conditions for his release.
Trump is already under indictment in two other cases. He is charged with 40 counts in the documents case and 34 felony counts in a New York State case in connection with a hush-money payment to a porn actress before the 2016 election. NYT