Former President Donald Trump and the 18 other defendants charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia all surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.
Trump and 17 other defendants were processed and released on bail, with one defendant held without bond. Several defendants also mounted legal challenges to the DA's case.
Former President Donald Trump talks with Tucker Carlson during a taped interview released on X (formerly Twitter) on the same night as the first Republican Presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Aug. 23, 2023.
@TuckerCarlson via X, formerly Twitter
Trump and 18 others were charged last week by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
The former president says his actions were not illegal and that the investigation is politically motivated.
-ABC News’ Olivia Rubin, Will Steakin and Peter Charalambous</>
Aug 23, 2023, 6:54 PM EDT
Willis says she had 'a duty and a responsibility to bring charges'
Speaking on a local Atlanta radio show, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defended her decision to bring the sprawling racketeering case, arguing that the case is an even-handed application of the law.
"There's really nothing sexy about this," Willis told Atlanta Up Close's Maria Boynton. "There's allegations of a crime, and then to look at the law and if the facts bear out that the law has been broken, then we have a duty and a responsibility to bring charges."
The DA also said that recent threats made against her will not deter her from pursuing her case against the former president and his co-defendants.
"In the words of Jay-Z, brush my shoulders off and we just keep pushing," Willis said. "That is not going to deter me from doing my job."
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, talks with a member of her team in Fulton County, Ga., May 2, 2022.
Ben Gray/AP, FILE
Willis described the process of determining defendants' bond amounts as "literally just plugging things in" to a formula based on factors related to a defendant's flight risk. She also reiterated her past statement about the requirement for all defendants to surrender for processing by Friday at noon.
"Should people fail to turn themselves in, then a warrant will be filed on the system, and they'll have to be arrested," she said.
Of the 19 defendants, 15 have negotiated their bond packages and nine have subsequently been booked and released.
Aug 23, 2023, 6:12 PM EDT
Judge denies Meadows' motion to move case to federal court
A federal judge has denied former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows' emergency motion seeking removal of his Fulton County case to federal court.
The judge also denied Meadows' bid to prevent his arrest.
"While Meadows' imminent arrest may present an actual injury, there are strong countervailing reasons to not enjoin the state criminal proceedings," the judge said in the ruling.
Meadows last week filed a motion to move his case on the basis of a federal law that he argued requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting "under color" of their office.
"The Court determines that, the clear statutory language for removing a criminal prosecution, does not support an injunction or temporary stay prohibiting District Attorney Willis' enforcement or execution of the arrest warrant against Meadows," the judge said in denying the motion.
Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer have also filed motions seeking to move their cases into federal court.
Aug 23, 2023, 5:59 PM EDT
Chesebro files request for a speedy trial
Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 19 defendants charged in the DA's indictment, has filed a request for a speedy trial -- a development that a RICO expert says could have a "massive" impact on the case.
Chris Timmons, a former Georgia prosecutor who is an expert on Georgia racketeering laws -- which are known as RICO for short -- tells ABC News that when a defendant files a speedy trial demand, they have to be tried within a certain amount of time, or they are acquitted by law.
Though it's not immediately clear what the exact effect will be in this case, Timmons said that many of the defendants won't be ready for trial that quickly, meaning the case could end up having multiple trials.
"That completely changes the strategy of this trial," Timmons said.
Referring to his time as a prosecutor, Timmons said, "We used to view [speedy trial requests] as a declaration of war. It means you are ready to go now."
Cheseboro, a former Trump-aligned attorney, faces seven counts in the indictment, which alleges that he outlined "multiple strategies for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021."
