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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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.”
DA Fani Willis requests trial date beginning Oct. 23
District Attorney Fani Willis requested a trial start date of Oct. 23, 2023, for all 19 defendants, according to a filing in response to Kenneth Chesebro's demand for a speedy trial.
"The State of Georgia, through Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, and respectfully requests that this Court specially set the trial in this case to commence for all 19 defendants on October 23, 2023," the motion said.
Former Ye publicist and Trump supporter Trevian Kutti gets $75K bond
Trevian Kutti, a publicist who previously represented controversial musicians R. Kelly and Ye, has been given a $75,000 bond, according to her bond agreement signed by Judge Scott McAfee.
Kutti’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.
Prosecutors allege that Kutti traveled from Chicago to Atlanta and attempted to contact Ruby Freeman, a Fulton County election worker, in order to convince her to report election fraud claims in testimony.
Mark Meadows' bond set at $100K
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set bond for former chief of staff Mark Meadows at $100,000.
His bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.
The bond also included a line to ensure he surrenders at Fulton County Jail by Friday at noon.
"The Defendant shall turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, August 25, 2023. If the Defendant does not turn himself into the Fulton County Jail by this date and time, this consent bond order shall be null and void," the consent order said.
Meadows had sought to delay surrendering as he tried to get his case moved to federal court, but that was rejected Wednesday.
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."