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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All but 1 defendant have surrendered to authorities
Publicist Trevian Kutti has surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail, leaving only one defendant remaining to turn themselves in before the DA's noon deadline, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office.
Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still, former Coffee County elections director Misty Hampton, Georgia lawyer Robert Cheeley and Trump staffer Michael Roman all surrendered for processing since last night, the sheriff's office said.
The last remaining defendant is Chicago pastor Stephen Lee, who officials said is expected to surrender today.
Eastman calls Trump's surrender 'crossing of the Rubicon'
Defendant John Eastman, who faces nine counts in the DA's indictment, said Trump's surrender to authorities Thursday was "a crossing of the Rubicon in our system of justice."
Speaking last night outside the California Bar Court where he is fighting disbarment, the former Trump attorney said he will mount a strong defense to the DA's case.
"We have very viable legal defenses and constitutional defenses," said Eastman, who was processed and released from Fulton County Jail Wednesday.
Eastman, who is accused of drafting a plan for Trump to cling to power by falsely claiming then-Vice President Mike Pence could reject legitimate electors during the Jan. 6 certification of the vote, has indicated that he will seek to sever his case from the other defendants.
"It's because we'd like to get out of it sooner," he told ABC News. "Because we did nothing wrong."
5 more defendants surrender to authorities
Following Donald Trump's surrender for processing on Thursday night, five more defendants in the case surrendered overnight at the Fulton County Jail.
Out of the 19 total defendants, only Trevian Kutti and Stephen Lee have yet to turn themselves in as today's noon deadline approaches.
Both Kutti, a publicist who once repped Ye and R. Kelly, and Lee, an Illinois pastor, are accused of trying to strong-arm election worker Ruby Freeman, who was falsely accused of stealing ballots.
-Aaron Katersky
Trump posts mug shot on X in return to social media platform
Trump has posted his mug shot on his X account, marking his first post on the social media platform since Jan. 8, 2021.
Trump was suspended from X -- then known as Twitter -- following the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He hadn't tweeted since new owner Elon Musk reinstated his Twitter account in November 2022 -- instead using his Truth Social platform to post messages.
Trump posted his mug shot on Truth Social as well.
Both posts linked to Trump's 2024 campaign website, where the mug shot was also used as part of a fundraising pitch.
-ABC News' Soo Rin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Will Steakin
Willis opposes Meadows' motion to move case to federal court
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has responded to Mark Meadows' emergency motion to prevent his arrest and remove his case to federal court, arguing that the former Trump chief of staff's arguments are "baseless and in direct contravention with the requirements of the law."
"In essence, the defendant's emergency motion is a plea to this Court to prevent the defendant from being arrested on the charges lawfully brought by the State of Georgia," the response said, highlighting that Meadows had previously requested additional time to surrender on two occasions.
Willis argued that Meadows' removal motion only entitles him to an evidentiary hearing, which is already set for August 28; otherwise, criminal proceedings in the case, including his surrender, can continue as planned, the response said.
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.
Among other allegations, the DA's indictment says Meadows traveled to Cobb County Center and "attempted to observe the signature match audit being performed by law enforcement officers and officials from the Georgia Secretary of State despite the fact that the process was not open to the public" and that he sent a text message to a state investigator on Dec. 27, 2020, asking if there was a way to "speed up" results ahead of Jan. 6, "in furtherance of the conspiracy."