Indian-American Judge Moxila A Upadhyaya has presided over the initial appearance of former US president Donald Trump in a federal courthouse in downtown Washington DC on charges of trying to stay in power despite his electoral loss in 2020, reported PTI.

Trump, who is seeking to contest the 2024 presidential election from the Republican Party, on Thursday pleaded not guilty before Upadhyaya as he appeared at the courthouse that sits just blocks away from the Capitol, where his angry supporters stormed the US Congress on January 6, 2021.