Former President Donald Trump has said that he will turn himself into Georgian authorities on Thursday to answer for allegedly conspiring unlawfully to rig the state’s 2020 election.
“Are you serious? On Monday night, hours after his bond was set at $200,000, Trump posted on his social media platform, “I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED.”
It will be Trump’s fourth arrest since April when he was charged for the first time in American history. Since then, there has seemed to be a never-ending string of bookings and arraignments for Trump, who is still the front-runner for the Republican presidential candidacy. Helicopter news crews have been following his every step as he made appearances in New York, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
Hours after Trump’s legal team met with Atlanta prosecutors to discuss the specifics of his bond release, Trump made his announcement. The Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Trump’s defense lawyers, and the judge all signed a bond agreement prohibiting the former president from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses, or victims in the case, even online. The phrase “posts on social media or reposts of posts” is used clearly.
As he runs for president again in 2024, Trump has attacked those who are connected to the criminal charges against him on social media numerous times. He has been criticizing Willis since before he was charged, and in a social media post on Monday morning, he specifically mentioned Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who rejected his efforts to annul the election.
The agreement forbids the former president from interacting with witnesses or co-defendants about the details of the case in any way other than through counsel, and from making any “direct or indirect threat of any nature” against them.
The court’s judgment puts Trump’s bond at $80,000 for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations allegation and increases it by $10,000 for each of the other 12 counts he is facing. A bond is the sum that defendants must pay as security to guarantee that they appear in court as scheduled.
Willis gave Trump and his 18 co-defendants until Friday at noon to present themselves for booking. The prosecution has suggested that the defendants’ arraignments take place the week of September 5. The case would go to trial in March of next year, during the height of the presidential nominating season, as she has stated she wants to try the defendants jointly.
Inquiries about the filing were not immediately answered by a Trump official. An attorney for the former president was also reached by phone and asked for a comment.
The first Republican primary debate, which Trump has chosen to avoid, will take place the day before his trip to Georgia.
He is anticipated to surrender himself at the Fulton County jail, which has a history of issues. Due to unsanitary conditions, violence, and the death of a man whose body was discovered last year in the psychiatric wing of the main jail covered in insects, the Department of Justice initiated a civil rights investigation into the situation last month. In the last month, there have been three fatalities in Fulton County detention.
A “hard lockdown” of the area around the jail will take place when Trump surrenders, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office stated in a news release on Monday afternoon.
Trump, though, is not anticipated to stay long.
Defendants often go through a security checkpoint when they enter the premises before checking in for formal booking in the lobby. Defendants are frequently photographed, fingerprinted, and asked for certain personal information during the booking procedure. Trump will be released from detention once the booking procedure is through because his bond has already been set.
Contrary to other jurisdictions, arraignments in Fulton County are often scheduled after a defendant completes the booking procedure and do not take place on the same day as the defendant’s first court appearance.
In other jurisdictions, booking a former president who still receives round-the-clock Secret Service protection has led to a variety of security and logistical challenges.
Trump hasn’t worn handcuffs during detention at previous court appearances in federal courts in Miami and Washington, D.C., as well as a state court in New York. Additionally, officials used pictures of the former president instead of forcing him to stand for a mugshot.
Trump will be handled similarly to other people accused of crimes in Georgia, according to officials there.
At a news conference earlier this month, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat stated, “Unless someone informs me differently, we are following our standard protocols, and thus it doesn’t matter your status, we’ll have a mugshot ready for you.
Trump was accused last week in the case along with a number of associates, who according to the prosecution plotted to thwart the will of the people in an effort to keep the Republican in the White House after he lost to the Democrat Joe Biden.
The case, along with the three others he is dealing with, is seen by Trump as attempts to harm his 2024 presidential candidacy. Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He frequently targets prosecutors and other parties involved in his cases on his Truth Social platform, and he keeps spreading lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Trump described the Fulton County district attorney in a statement on Monday as “crooked, incompetent, & highly partisan.” He also criticized Kemp, who he has long been targeting for failing to step in after the 2020 election. Kemp has been open in his criticism of Trump, saying last week on social media that “the 2020 Georgia election was not stolen.”
Additionally, three attorneys who were indicted alongside Trump had their bonds set on Monday. The bond for each of them was set at $20,000 for the RICO accusation and at different amounts for the other offenses they are facing. Ray Smith’s bond was set at $50,000, while John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro’s were each given a $100,000 bond.
Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, had his bond set at $10,000 after being charged with taking part in a hack of electoral machinery in remote Coffee County.
Other defendants include Jeffrey Clark, a Trump administration Justice Department employee who helped the then-president attempt to overturn his Georgia election loss, Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff and attorney for Trump, and Rudy Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City.
Just two weeks prior, the Justice Department’s special counsel accused Trump in a different instance of participating in a large conspiracy to rig the election. Aside from the two charges involving the elections, Trump is also accused of illegally retaining secret data in a federal indictment and of fabricating company records in a state lawsuit in New York.