On Thursday night, former President Donald Trump officially turned himself in at the Fulton County jail in Georgia in connection with the recent indictment that came from the investigation conducted by District Attorney Fani Willis.
Trump has been charged with 13 different criminal counts, all revolved around the alleged efforts he and some of his allies took to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
The Fulton County jail set bail at $200,000 for Trump in the matter. He was processed quickly on Thursday evening, which included having his mugshot taken, and then was released. The details of Trump’s processing and release were negotiated between his legal team and state prosecutors earlier this week.
Trump won’t face a formal arraignment until early in September, according to Fox News Digital. He’s widely expected to plead not guilty when that arraignment is held.
The former president is one of 19 defendants in the case who all had a deadline of this Friday to voluntarily turn themselves in on the charges. Others who have been charged and turned themselves in include some of Trump’s former legal representatives Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani.
There are many other prominent members of Trump’s inner circle who were included in the Fulton County indictment, including John Eastman, Jeff Clark, Kenneth Chesebro and Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff for the White House.
All of the defendants who turned themselves in were similarly processed like Trump, including having their mugshot taken.
Trump is being accused of violating Georgia’s RICO Act (one count), filing false documents (one count), making false statements (two counts) and criminal conspiracy (six counts).
After he was released from jail, Trump spoke to reporters from a tarmac in Atlanta, calling it “a very sad day for America.”
He said:
“This should not have ever happened. If you challenge an election – you should be able to challenge an election. I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election. I should have every right to do that.
“As you know, you have many people that you’ve been watching over the years do the same thing – whether it is Hillary Clinton, or Stacey Abrams, many others. When you have that great freedom to challenge – you have to be able to – otherwise, you’re going to have very dishonest elections.”
The former president further called the Georgia case “a travesty of justice.” He continued:
“We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. And everything knows that.”
Trump pushed forward by saying that Democrats are attempting to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election by charging him with crimes related to the 2020 election.
In addition to the state-level charges in Georgia, Trump is also facing state-level charges in New York – handed down by Alvin Bragg, the district attorney in Manhattan – as well as two separate federal charges – both coming from investigations conducted by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
In the three other cases, Trump has already pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing.
