Yet, centred on his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. All of this comes as the former president runs in the hope of becoming the next president , courting the Republican Party nomination while facing mounting legal concerns. So, lets take a look at the latest charges filed against him yesterday. This time, he was accused of four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the rights of citizens. During a brief arraignment in the Nations Capital yesterday, mr trumps lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. He later slammed the Usjustice Department while speaking to the press. When you look at what has happened, this is a persecution of a political opponent. Happened, this is a persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in america. This is the persecution of the person that is leading by very, very substantial numbers in the republican primary and leading biden by a lot, so if you cant beat him, you persecute him or you prosecute him. We cant let this happen in america. Thank you very much. The bbc was inside the courthouse watching the proceedings unfold. 0ur reporter Bernd Debusmann described the former president s demeanour in front of the judge. Well, he was very calm and very quiet. He did not say much, he just responded very quickly to westerns when they were answered and gave his name and when he was asked his age he said seven, seven in his words. But even with the possible penalties and indictment read out, very little visible on his face and he spent most of the time with his hands in front of him hunched over the table. He seemed to not be reacting much but listening but not reacting visibly in any way that showed any emotion. Visibly in any way that showed any emotion visibly in any way that showed any emotion. Can you describe for us the any emotion. Can you describe for us the moments any emotion. Can you describe for us the moments when any emotion. Can you describe for us the moments when the | for us the moments when the former president entered his plea . He former president entered his lea . ,. ,. ,. , former president entered his lea . ,. ,. ,. , plea . He stood up and got to the front plea . He stood up and got to the front of plea . He stood up and got to the front of the plea . He stood up and got to the front of the room plea . He stood up and got to the front of the room and plea . He stood up and got to the front of the room and he| the front of the room and he kind of mouth the words not guilty as his lawyer entered the plea on his behalf but again, not much reaction and he did not seem at all worried or irritated in any way, just very direct. I think he must� ve prepared for this moment well of time. You could tell it was very procedural for of time. You could tell it was very proceduralfor him of time. You could tell it was very procedural for him as well. Following mr trumps historic third indictment and arraignment, we spoke with three members of the house january sixth committee, which investigated the events leading up to the attack on the us capitol. I spoke with democratic congresswoman zoe lofgren of california and began by asking for her reaction to the developments. Its always a shock when you see a former president arrested and charged with four felonies. 0n the other hand, when you this date was coming from the indictment and, of course, is a member of the january Six Committee, weve known for some time that he engaged in a pattern of conduct that was criminal and designed to overthrow the constitution and the election in order to keep power, so it was a mix of sadness, determination and, i guess, in a sense, ratification that in america, no person is Above The Law. That in america, no person is Above The Law. Special counsel jack smith Above The Law. Special counsel jack smith has Above The Law. Special counsel jack smith has notes Above The Law. Special counsel jack smith has notes from jack smith has notes from former president mike pence which were taken in real time and of course, we know that never actually sat down with the january Six Committee but what kind of information do you think Thatjack Smith is now in possession of because of those notes . ~. , ~ notes . Well, i would think substantial notes . Well, i would think substantial information. I notes . Well, i would think. Substantial information. For example, one of the things he resided in the indictment was the ex president trying to talk pence into throwing the votes out. He said, youre too honest. Thats told me a lot. Number one, the trump was dishonest and was failing in getting his Vice President to join him in that dishonesty. You know, there was a lot of interaction between the then president and his Vice President and his Vice President where the was trying to bully the Vice President into violating his Oath Of Office and violating the electoral count act and i think the verbatim or word for word discussions will be important evidence for this trial. Donald trump legal evidence for this trial. Donald Trump Legal Team evidence for this trial. Donald Trump Legal Team will evidence for this trial. Donald Trump Legal Team will say evidence for this trial. Donald | Trump Legal Team will say that this is about his First Amendment rights. Whats your reaction to that . Well, clearly, its not. Reaction to that . Well, clearly, its not. As the indictment clearly, its not. As the indictment itself clearly, its not. As the i indictment itself resided, clearly, its not. As the indictment itself resided, you can say whatever you want, even if it is lies. But when that turns into action, then you run into criminal conduct. Its like saying you can say whatever you want so if you walk into a bank and say ive got a gun, give me all your money, thats protected by the First Amendment. I think not. What do you think, ultimately, this means for the United States in the years to come . Well, i dont have a crystal ball but i do think it is there are fundamentals here. Fundamentals since the first president George Washington is that when the election is taken, the incumbent abides by the results. George washington left after two terms. I remember reading at the Library Of Congress a letter that president lincoln had written to his cabinet when he believed he was going to lose the election in the middle of the civil war and his words were, a matter how dire we think this will be, we will live with the will be, we will live with the will of the voters. Mr trump is the first ever in American History to try and hold onto power contrary to the electorate. We cannotjust give that a pass. That cannot be allowed all, really, the american experiment with democracy is doomed. And i think to the extent that he has committed crimes and, clearly, i think he has, our American System Ofjustice seems at what sees everyone the same. No one is exempt from complying with the law, including the most elevated people in our society, even the president of the United States, so i hope As Time Goes By thatjustice will be served and the American Public will come to accept that thatis public will come to accept that that is the best that american governments has to offer. Democratic congresswoman zoe lofgren, representative from california, thank you so much for being with us. Just after mr trumps court appearance, my colleague Sumi Somaskanda also spoke with another former member of the january sixth committee, Congressmanjamie Raskin of maryland. Congressman, thank you so much forjoining us. Great to have you on bbc news. First of all, the former president arranged today. Your thoughts on what you myth witnessed . Well, it is a tremendous vindication of the Rule Of Law In American Democracy that we start off with the principle that no one is Above The Law and people cannot get away with crimes and then use their fame or celebrity or former Public Office in order to nullify prosecution. Donald trump famously said he could shoot someone on fifth ave and it would make no difference to his supporters. That has proven to be a fairly accurate prophecy for supporters but it is not true of the american system of justice. You cannot get away with that this because you think that you exercise some kind of dictactiry or autocratic spell over the masses. I want to ask you about the indictment because it claims donald trump not only lied about losing the election but he knew he did and, together with his lawyers, launched a conspiracy to overturn the results. Are you convinced that the president did indeed know he lost the election . Well, i was convinced of that through the january 6 elect select Committee Investigation when a number of witnesses told us things like donald trump saying, can you believe i lost to this guy . And expressing frustration and exasperation about what had happened and, you know, he was told by the Attorney General of the United States, who was as loyal sycophant as he ever had, william barr, that he had lost the election and that the claims that he was swallowing and repeating were bs i am cleaning that up for television. He was told by white House Counsel there was nothing there, members of his family he clearly had every reason to understand that he had lost the election and yet, he was still looking for a way to torture out some sort of preservation of power even in the election a margin that trump had declared a landslide when he won by the exact same number in the Electoral College against Hillary Clinton in 2016. So, he was perfectly aware. Of course, even if he believed that he had won the election and, remember, he lost 60 federal and state court cases rejecting claims of fraud but even if he believed that, it still would not have justified him trying to overflow this makeover through the electoral process and deprive us of a fair election. The former Vice President provided testimony to jack smiths office your committee was unable to speak with him. Do you think it will be a key witness if this goes to trial . Well, it appears so. There were certain things that i noticed in the indictment that were not part of the january 6 report, such as donald trump saying to mike pence that he was too honest. That was a conversation between both of them so that must have come from mike pence or contemporaneous notes that he took. So, there are certain things that only solidify our understanding of donald trump trying to coerce mike pence into stepping outside of his constitutional role, presiding in ministerial fashion over the joint Session Of Congress to engage in the peaceful transfer of power and to simply appoint donald trump president , declaring him president and nullifying the Electoral College vote send in from millions of people in arizona, pennsylvania, georgia, wisconsin and so on. They basically wanted pence to vaporise the election and when he wouldnt do it, they turned the wrath of the insurrectionary rioters against him. We heard them chanting, hang mike pence. Where did they get the idea to attack Donald Trumps own Vice President . How do you think the rest of the world is watching today, seeing the former president indicted now for a third time . I dont know, you would be a betterjudge of that i dont know, you would be a better judge of that than i dont know, you would be a betterjudge of that than me. I hope people will see it as a vindication of the American System Ofjustice, that we dont say that because someone once held a Public Office as president or Vice President or member of congress or governor that they can commit any crime that they can commit any crime that they can commit any crime that they want. People understand how absurd that is if youre talking about a murder or rape. It is no less absurd when youre talking about trying to overthrow an election or trying to interfere with a federal proceeding or trying to defraud the American People. Those things are all crimes and you dont get any sort of exception to itjust because once held Public Office. As we mentioned, the former president is facing a raft of other criminal charges. Lets break them down. Donald trump is now the focus of four major investigations related to his business and Political Activities at both the federal and state level. So far, mr trump has been indicted in three of those cases, including the federal governments case investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the january sixth attack on the capitol. He has also been indicted and trial dates have been set in the federal case investigating his handling of classified material, as well as in the manhattan criminal case related to trumps Hush Money Payments made to Former Adult Film ActressStormy Daniels during the 2016 president ial campaign. And an investigation in georgia continues into attempts to reverse trumps loss in 2020, which could lead to a further indictment. At this point, mr trump faces 78 state and federal counts in the three cases in which he has been charged. We spoke with rodney davis, former republican congressman from the state of illinois about whats next for donald trump in the face of those mounting legal challenges. In the end, the lawyers, the strategists, Donald Trumps family can sit back and devise what they think is the best step by step strategy to defend donald trump from all of these allegations, and there is only one person thats going to make that decision on how to proceed, and thats donald trump, and my interactions with President Trump were very positive over the time that i served with him, but he is in my opinion the most undisciplined politician that i have ever had a chance to work with, so he is going to lash out at everyone, thats going to be his strategy. What he thinks should be said is going to be said on truth social or other social media outlets. He is going to say tweeted this, truth of this, and is going to come out on the whole world will read it and report on it, thats why you will not see a codified strategy from anyone in this orbit. Is going to be hit or miss based upon what he sees being reported in the media every day about him and his case, and that is very dangerous for him in the criminal case, but we will see what happens. Yesterday we had a Panel Discussion on the developments, and my colleague Sumi Somaskanda asked it if the indictments helped paint mr trump as a victim. We then saw this exchange between former congresswoman stephanie murphy, and the former Communications Director in Donald Trumps transition team, bryan lanza. The sad thing about this is that these indictments have opened up our legal system to a tax, and thatjust undermines our institutions are. As it is the American People have very little faith in their institutions, but then having faith in our institutions, whether that is voting or Law Enforcement or congress, its core to a strong democracy, and so all of this partisan bickering hurts us as a nation, and i think our enemies abroad see that as an opportunity, and its just really an unfortunate situation. Itsjust really an unfortunate situation. ,. , itsjust really an unfortunate situation itsjust really an unfortunate situation. ,. ,. ,. , situation. Just a followup on that, what situation. Just a followup on that, what do situation. Just a followup on that, what do you situation. Just a followup on that, what do you mean, situation. Just a followup on that, what do you mean, do | situation. Just a followup on i that, what do you mean, do you think that our enemies abroad see that as an opportunity . Well, there are those who think that their system of government, autocracy, socialism, communism, autocratic systems are the ones that are the best, that should prevail in this next, in our future, and as a democracy, when we are attacking our institutions at the very core of what a democracy is which is one vote, your vote matters, we are doing their bidding for them. This are doing their bidding for them. � ,. , are doing their bidding for them. � ,. ,. , are doing their bidding for them. � ,. ,. , them. As we are looking at these images them. As we are looking at these images of the