Trump’s arraignment over efforts to overturn 2020 election: How historic day will unfold

America is bracing for another historic day as former president Donald Trump will be arrested for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election as part of a desperate bid to defy the will of voters and remain at the head of US government.

A total of 31 months after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol to try to stop the certification of the electoral college votes for President Joe Biden, Mr Trump is heading to a courthouse nearby to face criminal charges.

He is scheduled to appear in Washington DC’s E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse on Thursday afternoon where he is expected to plead not guilty to all charges.

The former president was indicted on four federal charges on Tuesday following an investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith’s office.

This marks his third criminal indictment – his second federal indictment – as his legal troubles continue to mount at a time when he is pursuing his third run at the White House.

Here’s how the day will unfold:

Trump heads to Washington DC

The former president is scheduled to appear in Washington DC’s E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse on Thursday afternoon for his arraignment on charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and role in the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot.

The former president does have the option of appearing virtually – instead of in-person – but is expected to travel to the US capital for the hearing.

Mr Trump is believed to have stayed at his Bedminster golf club overnight on Wednesday, a roughly three and a half hour drive from the courthouse.

Arrest, fingerprints, mugshot?

Mr Trump is expected to surrender to authorities at the DC courthouse at 4pm ET where he will be formally arrested on the four charges.

He will be processed and likely fingerprinted, however – like his past two arrests – he is not expected to have his mugshot taken or be placed in handcuffs.

He will then appear for his arraignment before Magistrate Judge Moxila A Upadhyaya where he is expected to plead not guilty to the charges.

Post-arraignment plans

Following his first criminal indictment – over hush money payments in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election – Mr Trump gave a live primetime address from Mar-a-Lago where he railed against the charges.

The former president has not announced any post-arraignment plans this time around.

However, it seems unlikely that he’ll be able to resist commenting on the proceedings, at the very least on his Truth Social platform.

Protests and security concerns

Security has ramped up in Washington DC ahead of the arraignment as Mr Trump prepares to return to the alleged scene of the crime.

Metal barricades were seen being erected outside the courthouse on Wednesday night while the Secret Service confirmed that it is working with multiple law enforcement agencies to “ensure the highest levels of safety and security”.

“While the Secret Service does not comment on specific protective means or methods, we have the utmost confidence in the dedication and commitment to security shared by all of our law enforcement and government partners,” Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the US Secret Service, said in a statement.

“We are working closely with the Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Park Police, U.S. Capitol Police and the Federal Protective Service to ensure the highest levels of safety and security for the former president, while minimizing disruptions to the normal court process.”

The agency warned Washington DC residents that they could face “short-term traffic implications” in the centre of the capital on Thursday.

The E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington DC is just a few blocks away from the US Capitol where a mob of his supporters staged a violent insurrection to try to overthrow democracy back on 6 January 2021.

The charges

A grand jury, which has spent months hearing evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, returned a federal indictment on Tuesday hitting him with four federal charges:

• Conspiracy to defraud the United States;

• Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding;

• Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding;

• Conspiracy against rights.

The allegations in the indictment

The former president is accused of conspiring with his allies to overturn the 2020 election, in a bid to sabotage the vote of the American people.

The Justice Department alleges that Mr Trump and his circle of co-conspirators knew that he had lost the election but launched a multi-prong conspiracy to do everything they could to enable him to cling onto power.

This included spreading “knowingly false claims of election fraud to get state legislators and election officials to subvert the legitimate election results and change electoral votes for the Defendant’s opponent, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., to electoral votes for the Defendant”, the indictment states.

Mr Trump and his allies also allegedly plotted to send slates of fake electors to seven “targeted states” of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin which President Joe Biden had won – to get them to falsely certify the election for Mr Trump.

The indictment also alleges Mr Trump tried to use the DOJ to “conduct sham election crime investigations”, sending letters to the seven states claiming that “significant concerns” had been found in the elections in those states.

As well as the false claims about the election being stolen from Mr Trump, the scheme also involved pushing false claims that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to alter the results – and pushing Mr Pence to “fraudulently alter the election results”.

When Mr Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a violent attack that ended with five deaths, Mr Trump and his co-conspirators “exploited” the incident by “redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince Members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims,” the indictment claims.

While the former president is the only person charged in the case, the indictment also refers to six co-conspirators who worked with him to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election.