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 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."
Mug shots released of first 6 defendants processed
Authorities have released mug shots of the first six defendants to surrender in the election interference case.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office released mug shots taken of attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham, Georgia lawyer Ray Smith III and Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall.
All six have been processed at the Fulton County Jail and released on bail.