In a rare move, Donald Trump avoided the spotlight today when he waived his right to a court appearance. He voluntarily waived his right to be in the courtroom during his arraignment. He signed a not guilty plea.

No scenes of Trump Force One landing in Atlanta. No O.J.-style video of the SUV transporting Trump to the courthouse. No huge motorcade. No defiant-looking Trump entering or leaving the courthouse. And, no mini-press briefing after the arraignment. And, most importantly, no live television coverage of Trump appearing before the judge for his arraignment. His local attorney handled it for him.

‘I do hereby freely and voluntarily waive my right to be present at my arraignment on the Indictment and my right to have it read to me in open court’,’ Trump said in a filing submitted by his local attorney.

One week ago, he turned himself in at the Fulton County jail and was fingerprinted. The mugshot seen around the world was taken. Since then, Trump and his detractors have cashed in on that picture.

Two days ago, Sidney “Release the Kraken” Powell entered her own not guilty plea. Trevian Kutti and Ray Smith also waived their formal arraignments and entered pleas of not guilty this week. Powell spoke of Trump’s election fraud claims in a press conference and legal filings. Trevian Kutti is accused of harassing an election worker. Smith is a lawyer who represented Trump in legal challenges in Georgia.

It is uncertain moving forward at this point how things will proceed. Many of the defendants are looking to separate their cases from the overall prosecution. Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis wants to try them all together under a state RICO statute. Those looking to separate from Trump’s case is Sidney Powell, who wants her own trial and a speedy trial. Willis originally wanted March 4, 2024 as the court date for Trump’s trial but that request was denied by the judge.

Trump’s calendar is getting full with court appearances. The federal judge in Washington, D.C. set March 4 as Trump’s trial date. That is the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith and deals with the January 6 investigation. It’s probably just a coincidence that the judge in D.C. also thought March 4, 2024 was a good date for Trump’s trial, right? It’s the day before Super Tuesday in the primary schedule. There is no denying that all of these legal proceedings are a part of a likely coordinated legal prosecution of the former president, now the frontrunner in the Republican primary. Democrats will do anything to win an election.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled that Rudy Giuliani defamed two Georgia election workers on Wednesday. That moves the case toward a trial over punitive damages. Giuliani is one of the 19 co-defendants in the Georgia case.

As is his way, Trump was on social media before the not guilty plea was entered.

Trump went on a social media tear in the hours before the plea, reposting one article calling his prosecution in Georgia a ‘political hit job.’

‘Does anybody really believe I lost Georgia? Because I don’t,’ Trump said, doubling down on what the indictment said were false statements by Trump and his alleged co-conspiracies to create the illusion of a stolen election in order to change the outcome of the vote.

He said he ‘shockingly lost Georgia’ despite winning nearby Alabama and South Carolina in ‘record-setting landslides.

Anyway, the arraignment is over now and Trump moves on to the next court date. He has pleaded not guilty in the Manhattan case concerning hush payments to Stormy Daniels, the January 6 case in D.C., and the Georgia case.