Donald Trump has been booked and processed into a Georgia county jail in connection to an election interference indictment, making him the first former president ever to be arrested on RICO criminal charges.
In a whirlwind series of criminal indictments Trump faces, this particular indictment is connected to his alleged role in working to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state of Georgia. He, alongside 18 co-conspirators, are all charged in a sweeping RICO indictment that accuses them of making combined efforts to prove that the election was stolen, a fraudulent claim that has been debunked by state and federal election officials.
Trump slammed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on his Truth Social platform on his way to being booked and processed on Thursday.
“Why is there so much MURDER in Atlanta? Why is there so much Violent Crime? People are afraid to go outside to buy a loaf of bread!” Trump wrote. “One big reason is that failed District Attorney, Fani Willis, who is campaigning and fundraising off ‘get Trump’ (much like the others!), doesn’t have the Time, Money, or Interest to go after the real criminals, even the REALLY Violent ones, that are destroying Atlanta, and its once beautiful culture and way of life.”
Other indicted individuals of note in this case include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, and former state senator and former chair of the Georgia Republican Party David Shafer.
Following the special investigation led by Willis, she ordered that all 19 people surrender themselves to state authorities by Aug. 25.
“This is yet another SAD DAY IN AMERICA!” Trump wrote.
An Atlanta judge set Trump’s bail at $200,000. As part of his bond agreement, Trump cannot contact any of his co-defendants except through his legal team. He was also directed to “make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against the community,” including “posts on social media or reposts of posts made by another individual.”
He has made direct attacks against Fani Willis, calling her a racist and falsely alleging that she dated a gang member. In a more recent attack, just days before his surrender, he called Willis “crooked, incompetent, & highly partisan” in a post on his social platform, Truth Social, among a plethora of posts and reposts on his rising poll numbers.
Hundreds gathered outside of the jail Thursday to show the former POTUS support.
About 45 minutes after Trump left the jail, authorities reported a bomb threat at the Fulton County Courthouse, according to MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin. K-9 units and police were deployed.
Ahead of his surrender, Trump also restructured parts of his legal team and hired Steven Sadow, the attorney who represented the rapper Gunna in the Georgia YSL RICO indictment. Sadow replaced the lead attorney on Trump’s team, Drew Findling.
“The president should never have been indicted. He is innocent of all the charges brought against him,” Sadow said in a statement. “We look forward to the case being dismissed or, if necessary, an unbiased, open-minded jury finding the president not guilty. Prosecutions intended to advance or serve the ambitions and careers of political opponents of the president have no place in our justice system.”
Trump’s former associate White House counsel, James Schultz, told CNN that Trump’s legal team will have to keep a close eye on Trump and work diligently to make sure he abides by the bond agreement.
The other defendants don’t face such extensive bond agreements as Trump does. According to The New York Times, each of the 19 people indicted in this case face five- and six-figure bonds but are only required to come up with 10 percent of the amount.
As authorities prepare to take all the defendants into custody by the Friday deadline, Fani Willis is preparing the next steps in the case. She just filed a motion requesting that the trial date for Trump and his co-defendants take place on Oct. 23.
