Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in a court filing Thursday to Georgia racketeering charges alleging he tried to steal the 2020 election.
Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted Aug. 14 on a combined 41 charges. By entering a plea through a court filing, he avoided needing to appear Sept. 6 at a scheduled arraignment hearing.
Trump acknowledged the indictment and discussed the charges with his lawyer, Steven Sadow. He wrote that he understood his right to a hearing, to have the charges read in court, but he waived it.
Other co-defendants have already filed written pleas. Ray Smith pleaded not guilty Aug. 28 and Sidney Powell and Trevian Kutti each pleaded not guilty on Aug. 29.
Trump remains free on a $200,000 bond pending trial.
Trump was charged with racketeering, soliciting state officials to violate their oaths of office, making false statements, filing false statements and conspiracy dealing with fake electors in the state.
The indictment described a series of episodes where Trump urged state officials to change presidential electors, where his lawyers made false claims about election fraud to state lawmakers and where he asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to alter the election results.
The Georgia case is one of six trials Trump faces in the next year as he campaigns for president, although the dates could slip as lawyers argue about what evidence can be included in each of the cases:
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump pleads not guilty to Georgia election racketeering charges