Donald Trump was indicted on Tuesday, 1 August, with criminal charges such as conspiracy to defraud the United States, attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights. Trump has spread prolific lies by accusing the 2020 US elections of being fraudulent, switching votes and denying him victory.
The former president appeared in the US District Court in Washington on Thursday, 3 August, before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya. Where he pleaded not guilty, and according to reports, he agreed not to violate any further federal laws in the future and to show a timely appearance on every occasion. Such judges handle initial matters in federal cases.
Who is Judge Moxila A Upadhyaya?
Judge Upadhyaya was born in Gujarat, India, and raised near Kansas, Missouri. She was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge only last year, on 7 September 2022. Upadhyaya earned her Doctor of Law or Juris Doctor (JD) from American University, Washington College of Law, graduating cum laude in 2003. She is a 2000 magna cum laude graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and also earned a Bachelor of Arts with honours in Latin Studies from the University of Missouri.
After graduating from law school, Upadhyaya served a two-year term as a law clerk to Eric T Washington, former Chief Judge of the DC Court of Appeals.
She joined Venable LLP’s Washington, DC office, where she specialised in complex commercial and administrative litigation. She left Venable in 2011-12 to serve as the first law clerk to Robert L Wilkins (currently the US Circuit Judge for the DC Circuit) during his tenure as a district judge in this court.
She is an experienced trial attorney, sought out for her extensive knowledge of the District of Columbia federal and local courts and administrative agencies, given her unique prior government service in the District.
In 2009, she was given the Defender of Innocence Award from the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project. In 2006, she received Venable’s Benjamin R. Civiletti Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year and the David W. Goewey Lawyer of the Year award.
According to reports in PTI, from 2021-22, Judge Upadhyaya was appointed to serve on this court’s Committee on Grievances. She is the former co-chair of the DC Bar Litigation Section Steering Committee and has served on the board of directors for the DC Access to Justice Foundation and Council for Court Excellence. She is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
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