Georgia election case: Trump, other 18 defendants surrender to authorities

Former President Trump was processed and released on bail.

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.


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Harrison Floyd booked without securing bond

Harrison Floyd has been booked into Fulton County Jail, according to the Fulton County inmate database. No bond has been set for Floyd, according to his docket.

Floyd did not previously negotiate his bond agreement and remains in custody at the jail, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office said.

All of the other defendants who have been booked so far secured their bond package before entering the Fulton County Jail for processing.

The former director of Black Voices for Trump, Floyd allegedly worked to solicit Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman.


Trump opposes DA's motion for October trial date

In Trump's first filing in the case, his attorney is now pushing back on the DA's motion -- which requested an Oct. 23 trial start date for all 19 defendants -- saying they oppose it.

"President Trump respectfully puts the Court on notice that he opposes the State's 'motion for entry of pretrial scheduling order' and 'motion to specially set trial,'" the filing states.

Trump attorney Steven Sadow also notified the court that they would be filing "a timely motion" to sever the case from Cheseboro -- who requested the speedy trial-- as well as any other defendant who "files such a demand."

"President Trump further respectfully puts the Court on notice that he requests the Court set a scheduling conference at its earliest convenience so he can be heard on the State's motions for entry of pretrial scheduling order and to specially set trial," the filing states.


Mark Meadows booked into Fulton County Jail

Mark Meadows has been booked at the Fulton County Jail, according to the Fulton County inmate database.

The former chief of staff unsuccessfully tried to prevent his surrender by filing an emergency motion to stay earlier this week, which was rejected on Wednesday.

His bond has been set at $100,000.


Bond for former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark set at $100,000

Bond for former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark has been set at $100,000.

Clark's bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month, surrendering by noon on Friday and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.

Clark unsuccessfully tried to prevent his surrender by filing an emergency motion to stay earlier this week, which was rejected Wednesday in district court.

The indictment alleged that Clark, while serving as a high-ranking DOJ official, made false statements in writing and in person to the acting attorney general and deputy attorney general, requesting authorization to tell Georgia officials that the DOJ "identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.”


Bond set for more than half of defendants

Attorney John Eastman was booked and released on $100,000 bond Tuesday at the Fulton County Jail, as the 18 defendants charged alongside former President Trump in the sweeping Georgia election interference racketeering case began turning themselves in.

Eastman told reporters on his way out of the facility that he plans to "vigorously contest every count of the indictment."

Co-defendant Scott Hall was also processed and released Tuesday, one day after Judge McAfee set his bail at $10,000. Hall, a Georgia bail bondsman, is among those accused of conspiring to commit election fraud in Coffee County.

After an indictment has been handed down in Georgia, bond and conditions of release are typically worked out prior to any surrender. The bond can be paid through cash, a commercial surety, or a court program that requires a payment of 10% of the bond amount.

By the end of the day Tuesday, bond had been set for more than half of the 19 defendants in the case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis' bail at $100,000, a day after he set former President Donald Trump's bond at $200,000.

Ellis is accused of making false statements to overturn the 2020 election and of soliciting public officials to unlawfully appoint presidential electors.

Later Tuesday the judge set bond for Stephen Lee, a pastor, at $75,000, and for Georgia lawyer Robert Cheeley at $50,000.

According to investigators, Cheeley presented video clips to legislators of election workers at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta and alleged that the workers were counting votes twice or sometimes three times. Prosecutors say Lee worked with others to try to pressure Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman and her daughter after Trump and his allies falsely accused them of pulling fraudulent ballots from a suitcase during the vote count.

McAfee also Tuesday set bail of $75,000 for former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham, and $50,000 for former Trump campaign official Michael Roman.

Latham is one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state, while Roman served as director of Election Day operations for Trump's 2020 reelection campaign and was involved in the plan to organize the so-called "fake electors" in battleground states.

All 19 defendants have been been given until Friday at noon to surrender. Trump said Monday evening on his social media platform that he intends to surrender in Georgia on Thursday.

In addition to Trump, Judge McAfee set bond Monday for attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro at $100,000, for Ray Smith III at $50,000, and for Scott Hall at $10,000.

All the defendants' bond agreements include a provision that they "shall perform no act to intimidate any person known to him or her to be a codefendant or witness in this case or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice."