Posted on 08/24/23
| News Source: The Hill
Former President Trump turned himself in at the Fulton County jail Thursday over charges he sought to remain in power after losing the 2020 election by attempting to change Georgia’s election results.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) brought a far-reaching case against Trump and 18 co-defendants alleging they entered a criminal enterprise to keep the former president in the White House.
It marks Trump’s fourth arrest in less than five months as he campaigns to return to the White House, though Thursday’s booking will look different than Trump’s previous three earlier this year.
In a departure from prior court appearances, he arrived at the jail after standard business hours, making a primetime entrance the day just after 7:30 p.m. a day after skipping the first Republican presidential debate. Trump is the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination.
He is likely to take a mugshot; it would be the first in any of Trump’s pending legal matters. Trump also surrendered at a jail, rather than a courthouse, and he is not set to be arraigned until a later date.
The former president’s height and weight were recorded, and he was given a prisoner identification number — just like his co-defendants in the case who have already turned themselves in at the local jail.
He was released just a short time later.
Trump faces 13 charges, from making false statements and writings to violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act – a charge rooted in combating organized crime.
He is also facing two counts of soliciting a public official to violate their oath of office, including for a call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) asking him to “find 11,780 votes” to help Trump overtake President Biden’s vote total.
Trump agreed to a $200,000 bond Monday, the highest of the 19 defendants.