Former president Donald Trump surrendered to authorities in Fulton County, Ga., on Thursday on felony charges related to his and his allies’ alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the Peach State.
Escorted in a presidential-style motorcade, Trump showed up at the Fulton County Jail shortly after 7:30 p.m. EDT. The former president was booked, fingerprinted, and photographed for a mug shot after arriving, according to jail records. Video footage showed Trump’s vehicle leaving the facility a short time later, after he posted bond.
“I have to start getting ready to head down to Atlanta, Georgia” to “get ARRESTED by a Radical Left, Lowlife District Attorney, Fani Willis,” Trump said Thursday on his social-media platform Truth Social. “Arrest time: 7:30 p.m.”
Trump is facing 13 felony charges, including conspiracy to commit forgery, filing false documents, solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, and violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Trump was one of 19 defendants charged in the case. The defendants were given until noon this Friday to surrender at the Rice Street jail.
The normal process for defendants who are booked at the jail includes a search, medical screening, fingerprinting, and mug shot. The Fulton County sheriff had said he planned to follow “normal practices” unless instructed otherwise. Co-defendants in the case, including former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, also have had mug shots taken.
Trump agreed to a bond deal that would see him post $200,000 as a condition of his release, including $80,000 for racketeering and $10,000 for each of his other twelve counts. He paid a local bonding company 10 percent of the amount to post his bond, according to CNN.
In Trump’s three previous indictments, he has surrendered ahead of a scheduled arraignment. In this case, Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis is looking to hold arraignments for all of the defendants in the case during the week of September 5. However, these appearances can occur virtually. The district attorney has said prosecutors plan to seek a trial date within six months.
Other defendants named in the 98-page indictment include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump lawyers John Eastman and Jenna Ellis.
Additional Trump allies charged in connection with Willis's investigation include pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, Trump campaign official Mike Roman, lawyer Robert Cheeley, former Georgia GOP chair and fake elector David Shafer, fake elector Shawn Still, pastor Stephen Lee, Black Voices for Trump leader Harrison Floyd, publicist Trevian Kutti, lawyer Ray Smith, and three officials connected to the Coffee County voting-systems breach: Cathy Latham, Scott Hall and Misty Hampton.
Prosecutors allege that individuals involved in the efforts "engaged in various related criminal activities including, but not limited to, false statements and writings, impersonating a public officer, forgery, filing false documents, influencing witnesses, computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, acts involving theft, and perjury." The indictment says 161 separate acts were undertaken to advance the "criminal conspiracy."
Willis's investigation, which began in early 2021, centered on alleged efforts from Trump and his allies to pressure election officials, and a plan to put forward fake electors. The investigation was launched shortly after Trump called Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger and pressured him to "find" the votes needed to flip the state in his favor. Trump maintains that it was a "perfect phone call."
The Fulton County indictment was the former president's fourth in four months. He was already facing four felony counts as a result of special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as another 42 felony counts stemming from Smith's separate investigation into the former president's alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Before that, Trump was indicted in Manhattan on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.
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