Rudolph Giuliani, Sidney Powell surrender to Fulton County jail in Trump election case
Rudolph W. Giuliani arrives in Georgia to surrender to authorities in response to his indictment in the 2020 presidential election case.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani surrendered at a Fulton County, Ga., jail Wednesday following an indictment handed down last week in connection with attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Giuliani’s legal team met with staff from Dist. Atty. Fani Willis’ office Wednesday afternoon to negotiate a $150,000 bond before he surrendered at the Fulton County jail.
“I’m fighting for justice. I have been from the first moment I represented Donald Trump,” Giuliani told reporters before leaving for Atlanta.
He was indicted with former President Trump and 17 others and accused of a conspiracy to disrupt the 2020 presidential vote in Fulton County, elsewhere in Georgia and in other states by misleading voters, the courts and state and federal lawmakers about the outcome, along with giving them false instructions about what could be done to overturn the results in order to keep Trump in power.
A former federal prosecutor, Giuliani is charged with solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer and other crimes related to a scheme to organize fake slates of electors in Georgia and other states in an effort to cast doubt on Joe Biden’s win when Congress met to certify the election on Jan. 6, 2021. He faces 13 charges.
Also booked Wednesday and released on a $100,000 bond was former Trump personal attorney Sidney Powell. She faces seven charges related to making false claims of ballot fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and for her involvement in hiring a forensic firm to take digital images of the Coffee County, Ga., election management system on
Jan. 7, 2021.
The 19 indicted defendants have until 9 a.m. Pacific time Friday to surrender, and several high-profile defendants have yet to do so, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who is trying to remove his part of the case to federal court.
Trump announced on social media Monday that he plans to surrender Thursday. His bond was set at $200,000.
Four others surrendered for booking at the Fulton County jail Wednesday, according to jail records.
Georgia lawyer Ray Smith, who helped the Trump campaign challenge the 2020 results in court, had a bond set at $50,000.
Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who helped devise the fake elector scheme, had a bond set at $100,000.
David Shafer, the former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party who is accused of organizing the Dec. 14, 2020, meeting of fake electors in the Georgia Capitol, had his bond set at $75,000. He is also trying to have his case removed to federal court.
Cathy Latham, a fake elector who signed documents purporting to be one of Georgia’s valid 2020 presidential electors, is also implicated in the effort to breach the election management system in Coffee County. Her bond was set at $75,000.
John Eastman, a California attorney and Trump ally, surrendered Tuesday.
Eastman is accused of pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to delay Congress’ certification of the election results or to throw out Georgia’s votes, and of helping to organize the fake slates of electors in Georgia and other states.
Eastman’s bond was set at $100,000. He is charged with nine counts including solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer and conspiracy to commit forgery.
Also Tuesday, former bail bondsman Scott Hall surrendered to authorities. His bond was set at $10,000. He is accused of helping a team working for Trump’s allies to access and copy the Coffee County, Ga., election system. In Georgia, election equipment is owned by the state, not the county.
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