Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election case and says he’ll skip next week’s hearing

ATLANTA (AP) — Former United States President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday and said he'll skip a hearing next week in the case accusing him and others of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had set arraignment hearings for Trump and the 18 others charged in the case for September 6.

A court filing waiving arraignment means Trump won't have to show up for that.

The decision to skip an in-person appearance averts the dramatic arraignments that have accompanied the three other criminal cases Trump faces, in which the Republican former president has been forced amid tight security into a courtroom and entered “not guilty” pleas before crowds of spectators.

Georgia courts have fairly permissive rules on news cameras in the courtroom, and this step means Trump won't have to enter a plea on television.

Trump and 18 others were charged earlier this month in a 41-count indictment that outlines an alleged scheme to subvert the will of Georgia voters who had chosen Democrat Joe Biden over the Republican incumbent in the presidential election.

Several other people charged in the indictment had already waived arraignment in filings with the court, saving them a trip to the courthouse in downtown Atlanta.

Trump previously travelled to Georgia on August 24 to turn himself in at the Fulton County Jail, where he became the first former president to have a mug shot taken.

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