Former US President Donald Trump surrendered to Georgia authorities late Thursday afternoon (around 12:40 a.m. in Lisbon) as part of a criminal trial accusing him of trying to undo his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, after he was released a few minutes later.
On Tuesday, the former American ruler (2017-2021) had already given this guarantee through a message published on his social network (Truth Social).
In the message, Trump said his “trip” (next Thursday) to the city of Atlanta would not be because he committed murder, but because he “made a perfect phone call.”
The former president was referring to one of the prosecution’s most important assets: the recording in which Trump asks Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to win in that state, aiming at the then candidate to be dismissed. Democratic presidential nominee, current President Joe Biden, of the White House.
The telephone conversation in question took place on 2 January 2021.
After turning himself in to authorities, Trump is expected to be released from Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail after hearing the terms of the charges and completing legal proceedings.
This is the fourth criminal case against the former president of the United States and the second in which he is accused of trying to undermine the outcome of the election.
On Monday, Trump’s bail was set at $200,000 (approximately $184,000).
In addition to the bail, the former governor and current candidate for the 2024 presidential nomination is prohibited from contacting and harassing other defendants or witnesses to the trial, including on social media.
The Republican has a notorious history of assaulting prosecutors leading cases against him, including the district attorney responsible for this case, Fani Willis.
The prosecution set a deadline Friday afternoon (5 p.m. in Lisbon) for Trump and the other 18 defendants in the case to surrender to the Fulton County Jail to be notified.
The suspects also include Trump’s former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Willis suggested that the reading of the indictment to the defendants would take place the week of September 5 and that the case would go to trial in March.
In his previous appearances in New York state court and federal courts in Miami and Washington, Trump was not handcuffed while in custody.
He was also not required to pose for a photo, with authorities using existing photos of the former president to proceed with registration.
Opened in 1989, the Fulton County Jail had over 3,200 inmates earlier this year, an overcapacity (about 2,700 inmates).
In a fundraising email sent Tuesday, Trump criticized prison overcrowding, describing it as a “humanitarian crisis” and “a violent prison.”
Source: DN
