Trump's arraignment isn't the first historic moment in this DC courthouse, from Watergate to Iran-Contra

WASHINGTON – A federal courthouse once again served as the backdrop to history when former President Donald Trump appeared Thursday, after receiving his third grand jury indictment this year and harshest accusation from the federal government yet.

Trump was arraigned Thursday afternoon at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Tuesday's indictment on four felony counts accuse him of conspiring to steal the 2020 election, which eventually led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.

Trump was accused in March of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to two women who claimed to have had sex with him. Before that first indictment, no U.S. president or former president had ever faced criminal charges.

Donald Trump indictment: Read full PDF outlining four charges related to election interference

Historic moments

His appearance Thursday was the latest historic moment in a courthouse that saw the Watergate trials and was home to parts of the Iran-Contra affair.

Seven men involved in the political scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation stood before Chief Federal District Judge John Sirica there; five pleaded guilty, and two were convicted by jury.

The seven men, including two former White House aides, were indicted in the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex and hotel in Washington.

The courthouse was also home to trials in the Iran-Contra affair, the 1980s scandal in which senior officials from President Ronald Reagan's administration were found guilty of facilitating secret and illegal arms sales.

In 1986, it became public that the administration authorized the sales to Iran while seeking the country's aid in freeing American hostages. As much as $30 million from the sales was diverted to help rebels fighting the government of Nicaragua, a violation of U.S. law.

Years later in that same spot, the federal court found that Microsoft had created an illegal monopoly over the personal computer market by restricting the installation of competitors' internet browsers, a decision partially overturned later on appeal.

The District Court sits in the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, named in 1997 after a chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The building was constructed in the mid-1900s in D.C.'s Judiciary Square.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump to appear in DC courthouse that also saw Watergate trials