Three Trump co-defendants plead not guilty in Georgia case

Three of former President Donald Trump’s 18 co-defendants accused of trying to unlawfully overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results have already pleaded not guilty to the sweeping indictment.

Former campaign lawyer Ray Stallings Smith III entered his plea to the 12 counts against him Monday evening. He was followed Tuesday by publicist Trevian Kutti, who pleaded innocent to three counts, and former Trump election attorney Sidney Powell, who pleaded not guilty to the seven counts against her.

The early pleas mean the trio will be spared from appearing in person to be arraigned Sept. 6 on the indictment brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Trump, 77, is scheduled to be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. on that day before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. It was not immediately clear whether he would enter a plea before then.

Smith, a partner at Atlanta-based law firm Smith and Liss, helped work on Trump’s efforts to reverse his loss to Joe Biden in the Peach State. He is accused of advising the so-called “fake electors” who signed legal documents falsely attesting that Trump had in fact won the election.

Powell, infamous for her “release the Kraken” mantra, has applied for a speedy trial under Georgia law, meaning her case could be heard as soon as October.

Kutti, the onetime publicist for Kanye West and R. Kelly, allegedly went to the house of a Peach State election worker, Ruby Freeman, claiming to be a crisis manager. During the visit, Kutti threatened Freeman with arrest if she didn’t falsely admit to committing election fraud, prosecutors say.

Willis’ team unveiled its 41-count case against Trump and his 18 co-defendants on Aug. 14.

All 19 defendants are facing at least one charge of breaching the Georgia Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Willis began her investigation into the matter over two years ago in response to a Jan. 2, 2021, call Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he stressed the need to “find, uh, 11,780 votes” — enough to reverse his loss.

Trump is facing a total of 91 charges — 13 in the Fulton County case, four in a federal election subversion case, 40 in an alleged classified document hoarding case, and 34 in a Manhattan case accusing him of falsifying business records.

He has denied wrongdoing.