Trump pleads not guilty to three more charges in documents case

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to three new charges related to his handling of US classified documents after he left the White House in 2021 - raising the total brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith in the case to 40, Report informs referring to Reuters.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, also waived his right to be present in Florida federal court for his arraignment on the three additional charges on August 10, a court filing showed.

The action came a day after he appeared in federal court in Washington to plead not guilty to four charges brought in a separate investigation led by Smith that alleged that Trump orchestrated an illegal plot to try to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The new charges against Trump in the documents case include an additional count for unlawful retention of national defense information and two more counts of obstruction of justice.

Trump appeared in federal court in Miami on June 13 to plead not guilty to 37 charges that he unlawfully kept the national security documents - including details about the US nuclear program and military plans - and lied to officials who sought to recover them. He entered his latest pleas in a written filing.