WASHINGTON, August 4. /TASS/. A US court scheduled the next hearings on former US President Donald Trump’s election-related charges for August 28, CNN reported.

The case will be heard by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who sentenced Russian citizen Maria Butina to 18 years in jail in 2019.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith announced on Tuesday that Trump had been charged with four felony counts, de-facto implying that he was trying to unlawfully stay in power despite losing the November 2020 presidential election. The most serious of charges in Trump’s indictment entails the maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.

According to The New York Times, the ex-president pleaded guilty to all the four counts in his indictment, which are "Conspiracy to Defraud the United States," "Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding," "Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding" and "Conspiracy Against Rights." The authorities will not seek pretrial custody for Trump.

Trump is set to run in the next year’s presidential race. So far, his chances of becoming the Republican Party’s official candidate are high. Incumbent US President Joe Biden is planning to seek re-election as the Democratic candidate.