Trump indictment LIVE updates: Former US president appears in court, pleads not guilty over January 6 US Capitol attack

Donald Trump is preparing to leave Washington.

He spent fewer than three hours in the capital for his brief court appearance, having flown in on his private jet, Trump Force One, from New Jersey.

He is expected to speak to the media from the tarmac at Ronald Reagan Airport before boarding his jet.

And that concludes Donald Trump’s arraignment hearing. The former president has left the courtroom after a brief appearance.

His motorcade is on the way to Reagan International Airport.

His court arraignment lasted about 30 minutes, having started 20 minutes late because the magistrate was late.

Put August 28 in your diaries, as this is when a trial date is expected to be set.

Team Trump has already suggested they want a trial held as late as possible, with his lawyer Alina Habba citing the process of legal discovery as a reason for needing a lot of time.

Magistrate Moxila A Upadhyaya has handed Donald Trump a document containing the conditions of release pending trial.

Trump has signed the document, according to reporters inside the courthouse.

Trump was warned, as is standard, that he could be arrested if he violated the conditions of his release. This included that he must not communicate about the case to any witnesses.

Trump, who has registered his third court appearance in four months, was also warned not to commit any crimes.

The Department of Justice has been asked to propose a trial date within seven days, as well as an outline of how long it expected a trial to take.

No trial date was expected to be set at today’s hearing.

The next hearing will be before the judge who will oversee the trial, Tanya Chutkan, and has been set for August 28, although Trump is told he does not need to attend physically.

A trial date is likely to be set on that day.

As expected, Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to four counts relating to his alleged attempts to overthrow the result of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden.

The magistrate assigned to his arraignment hearing, Moxila A Upadhyaya, was running late and started the proceedings almost 20 minutes after they were slated to begin.

Upadhyaya referred to him as “Mr Trump” and “sir” rather than president, as is often the case in the US, and was used by Trump’s own lawyer.

Trump stood and raised his right hand to take the oath from the court official.

Trump provided his name and age as “seven seven,” before the magistrate read out the four felony counts he faces and the maximum sentence of 20 years that a guilty verdict would bring.

He entered his not guilty plea himself.

Read more from our US correspondent Farrah Tomazin in Washington: Trump returns to Washington to plead not guilty for trying to overturn 2020 election results

The Associated Press reports that three police officers who helped defend the US Capitol against the violent mob that Trump is accused of inciting are attending his court arraignment.

They are Daniel Hodges and Aquilino Gonnell, who were injured in the violence, and Harry Dunn, who was chased by violent protesters.

“All I have wanted from day one is accountability,” Dunn said in a statement released by his lawyer after he went into the federal court in Washington.

Also in the courtroom is special counsel Jack Smith who has brought the prosecution against Trump.

Former US president Donald Trump is inside the courtroom attending his arraignment hearing.

CBS reporter Scott MacFarlane, who is inside the courtroom, says that Trump is seated between two attorneys facing the empty jury box, wearing the same navy suit with red tie that he wore for his two prior court hearings.

Meanwhile, NBC’s Ryan J Reilly also reports that Trump has spent time seated alone at the defence table.

Read more from our US correspondent Farrah Tomazin in Washington: Trump returns to Washington to plead not guilty for trying to overturn 2020 election results

One of Donald Trump’s lawyers, Alina Habba, is speaking to the media.

She said that the prosecution of the former president was “election interference” and aimed at distracting Trump from launching a successful run at the White House.

“This is election interference at its finest, against the leading candidate right now for president, for either party,” Habba said.

“President Trump is under siege in a way we have never seen before.”

She claimed that Trump’s decision to give up his “good life” to “fight for this country” was frightening to career politicians.

She said all Trump’s legal team needed to prove was that the former president believed that the 2020 result was “not completely honest”.

Asked why she didn’t want to expedite a trial if she was so confident that it was merely a “witch hunt,” Habba said the process of legal discovery meant that Trump needed time to present the facts and would not be rushed.