Trump expected to be booked at Fulton County jail, sheriff says
Atlanta (CNN) — Former President Donald Trump is expected to surrender at the Fulton County jail, the local sheriff said Tuesday in a statement, along with the other 18 co-defendants charged on Monday in the Georgia 2020 election subversion case.
Trump, who was charged with 13 counts including racketeering, has not publicly indicated when he intends to surrender ahead of the August 25 deadline imposed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The statement from the Fulton County sheriff’s office addressed the key question of where the former president would be arrested and processed as a criminal defendant.
“At this point, based on guidance received from the district attorney’s office and presiding judge, it is expected that all 19 defendants named in the indictment will be booked at the Rice Street Jail,” the statement said.
“Keep in mind, defendants can turn themselves in at any time. The jail is open 24/7,” the news release states. “Also, due to the unprecedented nature of this case, some circumstances may change with little or no warning.”
Most defendants charged in Fulton County are typically booked at the Fulton County jail. Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat previously suggested he wants to treat the defendants charged in the Trump election subversion case the same as any other defendant would be treated.
“Unless someone tells me differently we will be following normal practices. It doesn’t matter your status we will have mug shots ready for you,” Labat said earlier this month on CNN.
The sheriff will now have to negotiate with Secret Service and Trump’s attorneys about the logistics of Trump’s surrender. Defendants who are not immediately arrested upon indictment – as was the case for Trump and his associates – usually negotiate bond if applicable, as well as other terms of release with the district attorney’s office.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former lawyer who is also charged in the case, said Tuesday on WABC talk radio that he would pick a day next week to surrender to authorities, adding, “There has to be bail, I imagine. Kind of silly for me to have bail, I mean I showed up there voluntarily and testified.”
The 41-count indictment unsealed Monday night lays out a sweeping investigation led by Willis into some of the most egregious efforts by Trump’s allies to meddle in the 2020 presidential election. It accuses the former president of being the head of a “criminal enterprise” that was part of a broad conspiracy to overturn his electoral defeat in Georgia.
Charges in the indictment include: False statements to and solicitation of state legislatures; false statements to and solicitation of high-ranking state officials; the creation and distribution of false Electoral College documents; the harassment of election workers; the solicitation of Justice Department officials; the solicitation of then-Vice President Mike Pence; the unlawful breach of election equipment; and acts of obstruction.
Former Trump lawyers, John Eastman and Giuliani, as well as former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, are among the defendants. The indictment also included an additional 30 unindicted co-conspirators in addition to the charged defendants.
Trump is now facing 91 charges across four separate indictments at the same time that he’s running for president in 2024. He denies any wrongdoing and has slammed the cases as politically motivated.
