Defendants in Fulton County election case begin surrendering ahead of Friday deadline

Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, August 23, 2023

ATLANTA— Defendants charged with alleged interference with the 2020 presidential election in Georgia began turning themselves in to the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 22.

As of 7 p.m. Aug. 23, nine of 19 defendants had been booked into the jail and it is expected that the remaining defendants named in the Aug. 14 indictment from a Fulton County grand jury will surrender by noon Friday, Aug. 25.

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They are all charged alongside former President Donald Trump for attempting to subvert the 2020 presidential election in Georgia in violation of the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Those who have been booked and released from the Fulton County Jail include:

  • Former President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, who turned himself in on Wednesday after his bond was set at $150,000. Giuliani is charged with making false statements and soliciting false testimony, conspiring to create phony paperwork and asking state lawmakers to violate their oath of office to appoint an alternate slate of pro-Trump electors.
  • John Eastman and Scott Hall surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail on Tuesday; Eastman was released from the Fulton County Jail on a $100,000 bail and Hall was released on $10,000 bail. Eastman was an attorney for Trump in 2020 when he allegedly wrote a memo arguing that Trump could remain in power if then-Vice President Mike Pence overturned the results of the election during a joint session of Congress where electoral votes would be counted, according to the Associated Press. That plan included putting in place “alternate electors” in Georgia and other states to falsely certify that Trump had won their states. Hall, an Atlanta-area bail bondsman, was allegedly involved in taking information from voting machines Coffee County, Georgia.
  • Former Georgia GOP chairman David Shafer and former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham were booked at the jail earlier Wednesday. A copy of a false electors certification document shows that Latham and Shafer were among 16 Republicans who signed the certificate falsely asserting that Trump won the state despite then-Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden receiving a close majority of the state’s vote in the November 2020 presidential election. Latham and Shafer were both released on a $75,000 bond each.
  • Lawyers Ray Smith and Kenneth Chesebro, who prosecutors helped organize the meeting of “fake electors” at the state capitol in December 2020. Chesebro faces seven charges and agreed to a $100,000 bond. Smith also faces 12 charges. His bond was set at $50,000.
  • Attorney Sidney Powell was also booked Wednesday on RICO charges and released on a $100,000 bond. She is accused of taking part in coordinated efforts to copy data from a voting machine in Coffee County.
  • Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis was booked and released Wednesday. According to the Associated Press, Ellis is accused of writing at least two legal memos to Trump and his attorneys advising that Pence should “disregard certified electoral college votes from Georgia and other purportedly ‘contested’ states” when Congress met to certify the election results on Jan. 6, 2021.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has given all defendants until Friday, Aug. 25 to surrender at the jail. Trump is reportedly planning to surrender Thursday.

According to a consent bond order filed Aug. 21 in Fulton County Superior Court, bond for Trump’s 13 felony charges is $200,000. Trump allegedly led unfounded claims of widespread election fraud following his loss to Democrat Joe Biden, and allegedly pressured state officials to overturn the election.

All defendants entered in to bond orders and stipulations earlier this week after negotiations between the Willis’ office and each of their attorneys.

Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, was also among the 19 defendants indicted for attempting to subvert Georgia’s 2020 election results.

Lawyers for Meadows have filed a motion to transfer the case from state court to federal court. A federal judge is set to hear arguments on the matter on Aug. 28.

A federal district court judge on Aug. 23 denied Meadows’s request that sought to avoid his arrest pending the Aug. 28 hearing.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was updated at 7:25 p.m. ET to include the latest details.