Donald Trump said he will surrender to authorities in Atlanta on Aug. 24 to be booked on state charges that he led a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election — appearing in state jail just one day after the first Republican debate, which he is not attending.
(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump said he will surrender to authorities in Atlanta on Aug. 24 to be booked on state charges that he led a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election — appearing in state jail just one day after the first Republican debate, which he is not attending.
The former president, who is seeking to return to the White House in 2024, announced the booking in a post on social media Monday evening, hours after he agreed to a $200,000 bond in the case brought against him by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. It’ll be the fourth time this year that Trump has been booked on criminal charges.
Trump’s booking is expected to take place one day after the first Republican debate, scheduled in Milwaukee, which the former president has said he will skip. Trump continues to dominate the Republican primary field — in the polls and in fundraising – despite his legal growing troubles. The former president announced the booking in a post on social media Monday evening.
“Can you believe it?” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED by a Radical Left District Attorney.”
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Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators were indicted Aug. 14, accused of participating in a vast criminal enterprise to keep the Republican in office after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Trump faces a related election-fraud case in federal court in Washington brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, as well as two unrelated criminal cases in New York and Florida.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Trump would have his mugshot taken or be placed in handcuffs at any time during his booking. Fulton County Sheriff Patrick “Pat” Labat said at an Aug. 1 press conference that he didn’t expect to show Trump special treatment, signaling that a mug shot would be expected “unless someone tells me differently.”
Trump returned to social media later Monday night to criticize Willis over what he portrayed as an unnecessarily steep bond for an easily recognizable person to remain free pending trial. The former president joked that Willis might think he’ll flee to Russia on his Trump-branded plane to stay with “Vladimir.”
Willis has given all the defendants in the Georgia case until Aug. 25 to voluntarily surrender or face arrest. The group — including some of Trump’s former top administration officials and allies — will then be arraigned the week of Sept. 5, she said. Trump is expected to enter a plea of not guilty.
As part of his bond deal, which was approved by a judge, Trump agreed not to intimidate any co-defendants, witnesses or un-indicted co-conspirators in the case “or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice,” court records show. That restriction includes making any “direct or indirect threat of any nature” against such individuals, including in social media posts or reposts.
The booking will place Trump in a jail facility that is notorious for overcrowding, violence by inmates and guards, and the death of a detainee found covered in lice. The conditions triggered a US civil rights investigation in July. But Trump and his co-defendants likely won’t spend much time in the aging facility, assuming their lawyers sign a bond backed by the judge and prosecutor, as the former president did.
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Scott Hall, an Atlanta-area bail bondsman who is charged in the case, became the first defendant to turn himself in for booking on Tuesday, CNN reported. Hall is accused conspiracy to commit election fraud and conspiracy to commit computer theft, among other charges, for his alleged role in tampering with voting machines. Hall agreed to a $10,000 bond, court records show.
After Trump was indicted in the earlier cases, he was processed before his arraignments but wasn’t placed in handcuffs and didn’t have his mug shot taken. Authorities in those three jurisdictions had said that a mugshot wasn’t necessary because Trump’s photo was already widely available. Mugshots typically are used to help law enforcement agencies track down defendants who try to flee. He was fingerprinted in those earlier cases.
Trump, who claims all the criminal cases are part of a Democratic “witch hunt” against him, has been selling mugs on his campaign website featuring a fake mug shot and the words “not guilty.”
The case is The State of Georgia v. Trump, 2023SC188947, Superior Court of Fulton County, State of Georgia.
–With assistance from Zoe Tillman.
(Updates with Trump criticizing his high bond in seventh paragraph and with more color about the facility in tenth paragraph.)
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