Trump’s trial has a witness and evidence list like no other

Capitol Police started planning for possible Trump indictment weeks ago

Julie Tsirkin

Top officials at the U.S. Capitol Police began having meetings weeks ago about the possibility of a Trump indictment and what it would mean for security.

“It is part of the new way the USCP plans early for the possibility of anything significant near Capitol Hill,” a spokesperson said yesterday.

Special counsel’s motorcade en route to courthouse

Special counsel Jack Smith’s motorcade left his office in D.C. around 2:45 p.m. and is expected to arrive at the courthouse within minutes.

Trump spotted exiting plane

Trump exited the plane, appearing to mouth “thank you” to someone.

He entered a car and his motorcade departed just after 3 p.m. ET.

A first glimpse inside the courtroom where Trump will be arraigned

The courtroom where Trump will be arraigned features four rows of seating, with pews on either side of the doorway.

Facing the judge, federal prosecutors will be seated at the table to the right, and the defense will be seated on the left side.

Journalists, including NBC’s Garrett Haake, are currently seated in the back two rows, closest to the door. He is among only 11 reporters with access to the courtroom, which was determined by lottery.

Unidentifiable men and women in suits are seated in the front row.

A man wearing a U.S. Marshals Service jacket is standing in the courtroom.

Trump’s plane lands at DCA

Trump’s plane landed at Reagan National Airport (DCA) moments ago.

His flight took less than an hour.

5 key things in the special counsel’s indictment

The four-count indictment criminally charging Trump with trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and subvert lawful votes is the result of months of investigating Trump, including testimony from allies, aides and officials all the way up to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Although the third indictment of Trump, the new charges are likely to land with a more complicated political thud, marking the first time the U.S. criminal justice system has sought to punish a leader for actions regarding the transfer of power.

Read the full story here.

Pa. Trump elector slams indictment, highlights caveat language in his state

On the day Trump is to report to federal court, one of the people who served as an elector for him in Pennsylvania said he never would have signed certification purporting he was an elector without caveat language that his slate would only go into effect if the state’s election results were overturned.

The so-called fake electors in five other states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin — did sign certification without such caveat language. Federal authorities charged that Trump was the head of a scheme that attempted to overturn the 2020 election and the Trump elector plan was a central part of the indictment.

“I would not have signed any documents if it weren’t for that language,” Pennsylvania Trump elector Charlie Gerow told NBC News today. “In my judgment, that would have been over the line. I would not have to hold myself forth in such a way.”

Central to the plan, authorities say, were slates of pro-Trump electors in seven states that Joe Biden won. In most of the states, these Republicans signed certification purporting to be the rightful electors and that their votes should count, even though Trump had lost in their states. Many of these electors have been subpoenaed and at least four have been called to the special grand jury, NBC News has previously reported.

But electors in both Pennsylvania and New Mexico inserted special language before signing their certificates, noting their votes were to be counted only if the election results in their states were overturned. According to the indictment, “A Campaign official cautioned not to offer the conditional language to other states because ‘[t]he other States are signing what he prepared — if it gets out we changed the language for PA it could snowball.’”

Despite highlighting the importance of that caveat language, Gerow still has significant issues with the latest indictment against Trump.

“It’s another imaginative writing of an indictment,” he said. “It’s an affront on the First Amendment. It should frighten every American regardless of their political persuasion. I see these continued specious criminal charges as an affront to democracy.”

Trump’s plane takes off

Trump’s plane took off moments ago from Newark, New Jersey.

He’s en route to Reagan National Airport in Washington.

Aug. 3, 202302:05

Graham says ‘any conviction in D.C. against Donald Trump is not legitimate’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a top Trump ally, said that “any conviction in D.C. against Donald Trump is not legitimate” during an interview on Fox News last night in response to the former president’s third indictment.

“They’re trying to criminalize the attorney-client relationship. They’re trying to criminalize exercising of the First Amendment,” Graham told host Sean Hannity.

Graham went on to claim that “the judge in this case hates Trump,” even leveling that “you could convict Trump of kidnapping Lindbergh’s baby in D.C.,” referring to the kidnapping of the infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1932.

Graham, who criticized the Justice Department for what he labeled a “double standard,” called for a change of venue in the case and a new judge. Graham also stressed that “we need to win in 2024 to stop this crazy crap” and predicted that Trump will win the Republican nomination and become the next president in 2024.

“So if you’re sitting at home and you’re mad, you have a right to be mad,” he said. “When it comes to Donald Trump, there are no rules — destroy him, destroy his family. When it comes to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, they get away with almost everything. If you want to change that, we better win in 2024.”

Graham’s remarks echo Trump and his lawyer’s arguments that the former president’s third indictment attacks his First Amendment right, as well as their calls to move the venue of the trial out of D.C.

Trump departs Bedminster golf club for Washington

Shortly after 1 p.m., Trump left his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to travel to his arraignment in D.C.

His motorcade is heading toward Newark Liberty International Airport, where the former president will board a plane to Washington.

Aug. 3, 202302:37

Officers who defended Capitol on Jan. 6 will try to attend Trump arraignment

Julie Tsirkin

A few of the officers who responded to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, hope to attend the first hearing in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment against Trump on Thursday, they told NBC News.

This afternoon, Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges and former USCP Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who resigned after the riot, will head to the D.C. courthouse, where Trump will be arraigned on four felony charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

All three officers suffered physical injuries during the attack on the Capitol, as well as emotional and mental trauma following the riot. Over the span of a year and a half, the officers attended each congressional hearing by the former House committee investigating Jan. 6. They have also testified against some of those charged by the Justice Department for participating in the riot.

“When I first testified before the Jan 6th committee, I was seeking justice and accountability for everyone responsible for that day,” Dunn wrote in a text. “Just as I’ve attended every hearing and court case possible, this one isn’t any different.”

A line that formed overnight outside the D.C. courthouse continued to grow into the morning, with just five seats available to the public on a lottery-based system. Dunn said the officers have been in touch with the Court Marshal and Justice Department officials to gain entry, but are hoping to attend as public citizens. It’s not clear whether they’ll be able to get inside due to significant public interest and limited space, but there are some overflow seats outside of the main courtroom.

“There hasn’t really been a day that’s gone by where I haven’t thought about it. Partially because I pay attention to the news, and how it’s continuing to impact current events,” Hodges, who was injured after being crushed by a rioter between a stolen police shield and Capitol door frame on Jan 6., told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday.

“And partially because of just how burned in my memory it is. So the trial is definitely going to bring some of that up for people. But it’s necessary,” he added.

Trump’s trial has a witness and evidence list like no other

The trial for the United States v. Donald J. Trump initially appears to have a witness and evidence list unlike any other in U.S. history, an analysis of the indictment shows. 

The indictment indicates that the special counsel’s office has gathered the contemporaneous notes of former Vice President Mike Pence, e-mails from senior Justice Department employees, and fake elector ballots. 

The indictment also appears to rely on the testimony of Pence, former Attorney General William Barr, former acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen, and former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, as well as on statements from numerous state elected officials describing efforts by then-President Trump or his lawyers to help turn the election in his favor. Any of those individuals could be called at trial as fact witnesses to give firsthand accounts what the president said or did or what the co-conspirators said or did, legal experts say. 

The indictment also refers to a memo that then-Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark allegedly wanted to send to specific states telling them that there was election fraud and that the states needed to examine their results. It mentions fake elector ballots signed by individuals selected to vote for Trump and what is alleged to have been an effort to replace the valid state electors voting for Biden with Trump votes in the Han. 6 certification of the election. 

The indictment also refers to the contemporaneous notes of Pence and his meetings about his role on Jan. 6, the now well-known recorded phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes, and numerous public statements by Trump, his attorneys and state officials — all of which, again, could be submitted as evidence at trial, legal experts say. 

The courthouse lies in the shadow of the Capitol

Kelly O’Donnell

The courthouse where Trump will be arraigned today is truly in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol. It’s just three-tenths of a mile from the courthouse to the Peace Monument at the front of the building that Trump’s supporters mobbed on Jan. 6.

Trump says he is going to D.C. to be arrested and needs ‘one more indictment to ensure my election’

Trump took to Truth Social to post in all caps that he needs “one more indictment to ensure” his election.

Minutes later he posted again saying that he was now going to D.C. to be arrested.

“It is a great honor, because I am being arrested for you,” he wrote in all caps.

The posts come as Trump lawyer John Lauro provided notice that he will appear on the former president’s behalf in the case.

Pence selling swag quoting the indictment

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s presidential campaign is now selling shirts and hats that play up Pence’s decision to not go along with a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election, quoting a piece of the indictment against former President Donald Trump.

The new merchandise, which hit the campaign’s online store Thursday, plays up a section of the indictment in which Pence allegedly called Trump on New Year’s Day 2021.

The indictment claims Trump responded to Pence, “You’re too honest,” when he said he didn’t believe he had the right to reject the Electoral College count.

Now the Pence campaign is selling hats and T-shirts that say: “Too Honest.”

Read more on the Meet the Press Blog.

Who is Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya, the judge presiding over Trump’s arraignment today?

Trump will appear before Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya in court today.

Upadhyaya, born in India and later raised in Missouri, was appointed to the D.C. District court in 2022, according to her court biography, and she has heard cases concerning disability benefits and Social Security, among others. Before joining the bench, Upadhyaya practiced commercial and administrative law at Venable LLP, a large corporate law firm, where she became a partner.

In her practice, she primarily focused on “complex commercial disputes,” according to the firm’s website, and her clients included private universities and hospital systems. Upadhyaya’s work with another Venable attorney to try to free prisoners who claim their innocence helped earn the firm the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project’s Defender of Innocence Award in 2009.

Upadhyaya previously clerked for the D.C. Court of Appeals and later for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where she now presides, and studied law at American University, according to her official bio.

Will Hurd: ‘All of this could have been avoided’

Republican presidential candidate Will Hurd, a frequent critic of Trump, said in an interview with NBC News today that the American people “should all be saddened” that Trump will be arraigned again today, adding that “all of this could have been avoided.”

“When you lose an election, and everybody tells you you lost, then you do the thing that all American presidents have done and welcome a peaceful transfer of power. You don’t try to lie about that and influence states and influence your own departments in order to change the election,” Hurd said.

Hurd, a former congressman from Texas and former CIA agent, also blasted Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents — the subject of a separate indictment from the special counsel — saying that “when you’re told you have classified documents, give them back.”

Hurd added, “If he didn’t do any of these things, we wouldn’t be in this position, right?”

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appears outside courthouse, demands ‘the truth’

Vivek Ramaswamy, a candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, posted a video of himself this morning outside the federal courthouse where Trump’s arraignment will be held.

He demanded to know “the truth” about what’s driving prosecutions of Trump. Ramaswamy said that he sued the Department of Justice this week to find out if Biden spoke to Attorney General Merrick Garland about the Trump case and what Garland told special counsel Jack Smith.

There’s no evidence that Biden spoke to Garland about the case. The president has said he maintains independence from the Justice Department.

Chris Christie says he was questioned in Trump investigation

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican presidential candidate, revealed that he was interviewed in one of the Trump investigations about six-to-eight weeks ago.

“They were trying to get a handle on what I knew about his knowledge of the reality of the election results,” he said on an episode of “On With Kara Swisher,” released Thursday.

Biden stays mum on Trump indictment

The president, on a bike ride during his vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Thursday morning, ignored shouted questions from reporters on Trump’s indictment and upcoming arraignment in Washington.

Biden’s campaign has also declined to comment on the recent indictment.

D.C. prepares for Trump’s court appearance

Former AG Bill Barr says Trump ‘knew well he lost the election’

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said he believes Trump “knew well he lost the election” in an interview with CNN last night, a day before the former president’s arraignment.

“At first I wasn’t sure, but I have come to believe he knew well he had lost the election,” Barr said.

Barr also dismissed an argument put forth by Trump lawyer John Lauro, who said on NBC’s “TODAY” show that the former president’s third indictment is the “first time that the First Amendment has been criminalized.”

“As the indictment says, they are not attacking his First Amendment right,” Barr said. “He can say whatever he wants, he can even lie. He can even tell people that the election was stolen when he knew better. But that does not protect you from entering into a conspiracy.”

Barr broke with Trump after the 2020 election when he made public remarks saying the Justice Department had not found evidence to support the then-president’s claims of widespread election fraud. Barr resigned as Trump’s attorney general soon after and has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump.

Trump urges that his trial be moved out of D.C.

On the eve of his arraignment, Trump said he hopes that his trial on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election results will be moved to an “impartial” venue and suggested West Virginia.

“The latest Fake ‘case’ brought by Crooked Joe Biden & Deranged Jack Smith will hopefully be moved to an impartial Venue, such as the politically unbiased nearby State of West Virginia!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last night. “IMPOSSIBLE to get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., which is over 95% anti-Trump, & for which I have called for a Federal TAKEOVER in order to bring our Capital back to Greatness. It is now a high crime embarrassment to our Nation and, indeed, the World. This Indictment is all about Election Interference!!!”

Trump’s post came hours after his lawyer John Lauro suggested he was seeking a change of venue for the trial in an interview with CBS yesterday.

“Absolutely. There are other options. West Virginia is close by,” Lauro said when asked whether he would seek a venue change.

Lauro added that he thinks West Virginia is “more diverse” than Washington, “which I think is 95% for Mr. Biden.”

“The bottom line is the president, like everyone sitting in this room, is entitled to a fair trial, and we’re going to get that,” he said.

Trump clings to false election fraud narrative while knocking former VP Pence

Trump isn’t backing down from his baseless claims of election fraud as he launched more jabs at his former VP Mike Pence, a Republican presidential candidate, in the hours leading up to his arraignment.

“I feel badly for Mike Pence, who is attracting no crowds, enthusiasm, or loyalty from people who, as a member of the Trump Administration, should be loving him,” Trump said in a Truth Social post yesterday. “He didn’t fight against Election Fraud, which we will now be easily able to prove based on the most recent Fake Indictment & information which will have to be made available to us, finally — a really BIG deal. The V.P. had power that Mike didn’t understand, but after the Election, the RINOS & Dems changed the law, taking that power away!”

Pence broke with Trump after he refused to go along with his demands to block the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory during the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Some Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol that day were overheard chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.” 

Pence has since publicly excoriated Trump over his baseless claims of election fraud. In remarks to reporters at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis on Wednesday, he said Trump was surrounded by “crackpot lawyers” after the 2020 election who only told him what his “itching ears” wanted to hear.

“I was fully prepared to make sure that we heard all the arguments and concerns the members of Congress had brought, but because of the riot and because of, because of the assertion by the president and his crackpot lawyers that I could overturn the election, the violence that ensued eclipsed all of that,” Pence said.

The former vice president also claimed he learned of Trump’s efforts to install fake electors in states from the indictment released Tuesday. “I really do believe that anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States,” Pence said. “And anyone who asks someone else to put themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.”

Trump will not have a mugshot taken today

The former president will undergo digital fingerprinting as part of the booking process at the courthouse today, but no mugshot will be taken; the court will use an existing photo of Trump in its place, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson said.

However, should Trump be charged in a separate election probe in Fulton County, Georgia, the sheriff there, Patrick Labat said the former president will receive the same treatment as any other person accused of a crime, including a mugshot.

“Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesn’t matter your status, we’ll have a mugshot ready for you,” he said.

Courthouse security is intense ahead of Trump’s arraignment

Security at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse is incredibly tight on a normal day, with security officers regularly reminding folks as they come in that it’s just like a Transportation Security Administration line at an airport: jackets off, belts off, electronics removed.

But today, security measures both seen and unseen around the courthouse have reached a level longtime court observers have not seen. Bike racks surround the front of the courthouse, the main hallway of the courthouse is swarming with heavily armed U.S. Marshals with long guns, and officers manning the security screening are, as ever, asking for jackets off, belts off and electronics removed. 

As the world’s media awaits Trump’s arraignment from outside, court security and various agencies are preparing inside. 

D.C. police anticipate street closures and urge public to ‘remain vigilant’

The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department said yesterday that there would be rolling street closures that would disrupt traffic during Trump’s arraignment and that it was working with federal law enforcement agencies to ensure the public’s safety.

The department “is working closely with the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Park Police, U.S. Capitol Police, the Federal Protective Service, and other agencies to ensure safety and security surrounding Thursday’s court appearance by the former president,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.

“There are parking restrictions in the immediate blocks surrounding the federal courthouse,” the statement noted. “Please be aware of posted Emergency No Parking signs in the area and monitor @DCPoliceTraffic for the latest on road closures and traffic delays.”

“MPD encourages the public to remain vigilant, if you see something, say something,” the statement said. “Please report immediate suspicious activity by calling 911.”

Trump to appear in federal court to face 2020 election charges

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in a Washington, D.C., courtroom Thursday afternoon to answer charges that he used “unlawful means” in an attempt to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election and hold on to power.

Trump will be arraigned on an indictment charging him with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction; and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.

Many historic firsts have already been notched. This will be the third time Trump will be arraigned on criminal charges — and the third time a former president will face charges.

Read the full story here.