Trump surrenders to authorities in Georgia

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 prime-time entrance just after 7:30 p.m. a day after skipping the first Republican presidential debate. Trump is the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

The Fulton County sheriff indicated that Trump did take a mug shot, which 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.

Trump’s jail record indicates that his height was recorded at 6′ 3″ and his weight at 215 pounds. He was also given a prison identification number — P01135809 — just like his co-defendants in the case who have already turned themselves in at the local jail.

He was released a little over 20 minutes after a massive motorcade delivered him to the facility from the Atlanta airport. He is now traveling back to New Jersey where he spends the summers.

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. 

With his bail previously negotiated, Trump is expected to be released Thursday upon the completion of the booking process. His bond agreement also requires him to not make threats of any kind, including in social media posts, against his co-defendants or witnesses. He is not required to report to pretrial supervision every 30 days, unlike his co-defendants. 

Longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani agreed to the second highest bond amount at $150,000. He called the indictment a “travesty” in brief remarks after surrendering Wednesday afternoon at the Fulton County jail.

Willis gave the defendants until Friday at noon to turn themselves in at the local jail. Two charged Trump administration officials attempted to block their arrests, but a federal judge denied their efforts earlier this week.

Trump’s arrest Thursday evening is expected to be his last following the launch of four different criminal probes investigating his conduct.

In each previous case, Trump pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, largely remaining expressionless in brief court appearances while decrying the cases on social media.

Trump faces criminal prosecutions in New York in connection with a hush money payment, in Florida for his handling of classified documents and in Washington, D.C., for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

He now faces a combined 91 criminal counts between all four cases.

Updated 8:27 p.m.