Trump defends Giuliani in new Truth Social post

Trump defended his former lawyer on social media today after Giuliani surrendered to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia.

“The greatest Mayor in the history of New York City was just ARRESTED in Atlanta, Georgia, because he fought for Election Integrity,” Trump said on Truth Social.

He also repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump has said he will surrender at the Fulton County Jail tomorrow.

Giuliani mug shot released by Fulton County Sheriff’s Office

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office released Rudy Giuliani’s mug shot following his surrender this afternoon.

Jenna Ellis surrenders to authorities

Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis has surrendered to authorities in Fulton County.

Her consent bond order, filed yesterday, is $100,000 in total. The bond amount for the count of violation of Georgia’s RICO Act is $75,000, and the amount for the count of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer is $25,000.

Ellis is the ninth of 19 defendants to surrender. Trump has said he will surrender tomorrow.

Giuliani said he spoke with Trump today

In brief comments to reporters this afternoon after his booking, Giuliani said that he spoke with Trump today.

“I talked to the president today. I wish him well,” Giuliani said. “I have every confidence in him.”

Trump has said he will travel to Atlanta tomorrow for his booking at the Fulton County Jail.

Prosecutors challenge Mark Meadows’ bid to delay arrest

The DA’s office has asked a federal judge to deny former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows‘ request for a stay of his arrest, calling it “meritless.”

Meadows argued he would be “irreparably harmed” if he were to be arrested in the election interference case ahead of a hearing Monday on whether his case should be moved to federal court.

Prosecutors said his “motion is baseless and in direct contravention with the requirements of the law.”

“The defendant is simply requesting that this Court prevent him from being lawfully arrested as any criminal defendant would be after indictment on felony charges by a grand jury,” prosecutors said, adding that his “claim that his status as a former federal officer somehow heightens this routine procedure to the level of irreparable injury to the defendant is baseless.”

“It should be noted the defendant’s former boss, the former President of the United States, voluntarily agreed to surrender himself to state authorities, while other defendants have already surrendered,” their filing said.

Meadows’ federal case is being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones, who’s also hearing Jeffrey Clark’s motion for an emergency stay.

After surrendering, Giuliani accuses Willis of attacking the Constitution

Giuliani spoke to reporters this afternoon after he was booked at the Fulton County Jail and insisted he was being wrongly prosecuted by District Attorney Fani Willis.

“Five other lawyers are indicted. That should tell you right away that this is an assault on our Constitution,” Giuliani said in a chaotic media scene outside the jail. “Fani Willis will go down in American history as having conducted one of the worst attacks on the American Constitution ever when this case is dismissed.”

Giuliani, a former Trump lawyer, argued that Willis’ probe “violated” First Amendment rights, and the right to petition the government for grievances about an election that he said some Americans viewed “as poorly conducted or falsely conducted.”

District attorney urges judge to reject Jeffrey Clark’s bid for a stay

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office is urging a federal judge to reject Jeffrey Clark’s request for an emergency stay of his case, arguing the former Justice Department official’s reasoning is legally unsound.

Clark’s request is “based on an apparent misread of the applicable statutes, a misapprehension of the binding caselaw, and a fundamental misunderstanding of criminal procedure—both state and federal,” the district attorney’s office said in a court filing today.

Clark, who is accused of taking part in a plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, had argued that the Fulton County case against him should be moved to federal court because he was a federal official at the time of his alleged crimes. He also argued that he was entitled to an automatic stay because the case was a hybrid civil and criminal case, a contention the DA’s office mocked in today’s filing.

He also argued the stay was necessary in part because he didn’t want to travel to Georgia or spend any time in the Fulton County Jail.

The DA’s office responded to that argument in today’s filing by writing: “The defendant seeks to avoid the inconvenience and unpleasantness of being arrested or subject to the mandatory State criminal process, but provides this Court no legal basis to justify those ends. Defendant is wrong on the law, wrong on the facts, and the Motion should be denied.”

Rudy Giuliani surrenders to authorities

Rudy Giuliani surrendered to authorities this afternoon after saying he would turn himself in today, according to his lawyers and court records.

He had already secured a bail bondsman and was expected to get fingerprinted and photographed. Giuliani is being represented by New York-based attorney John Esposito.

Sidney Powell has been booked

Attorney Sidney Powell, who helped lead Trump’s post-campaign legal efforts and promoted conspiracy theories, has been booked at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

She faces seven counts in the racketeering indictment. Her bond was set at $100,000.

Rudy Giuliani’s bond set at $150,000

Rudy Giuliani’s bond was set at $150,000, two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed.

The bond order set $30,000 for his alleged violation of Georgia’s RICO law and $10,000 each for the 12 remaining charges, which include the alleged solicitation of violation of oath of office by a public official, false statements and conspiracy, the filing showed.

Kenneth Chesebro demands a speedy trial in Georgia

Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer associated with Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign who was behind the legal theory underpinning the so-called fake electors scheme, filed motions in court today calling for a speedy trial.

“State law, if requested by a Defendant, sets a firm time limit in which to have a fair trial. Mr. Chesebro has given his official notice that he intends to avail himself of that right. Mr. Chesebro maintains his innocence and remains confident as the legal process continues,” said his lawyers, Scott Grubman and Manny Arora.

The lawyers also filed motions and demands for discovery, in-camera inspection, preservation of evidence and the complete recording of all proceedings, among others things.

While Chesebro has called for a speedy trial, Trump has been trying to delay all trials on the four indictments against him.

District attorney must respond to Mark Meadows’ stay request by this afternoon

A federal judge in Georgia ordered Willis to respond to Mark Meadows’ request for an emergency stay of her arrest warrant by 3 p.m. ET today.

Meadows argues that his case should be delayed until at least Monday, when U.S. District Judge Steve Jones has scheduled a hearing on Meadows’ argument that his case should be heard in federal court instead of a state venue because he was the White House chief of staff at the time of his alleged wrongdoing.

Jones is also hearing former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s petition to move his case to federal court. Clark has asked for an emergency stay, and Jones ordered Willis to respond to the motion by 3 p.m. today as well.

Willis has given all 19 defendants until noon Friday to surrender voluntarily, and she has rejected Meadows’ request for a delay until after Monday’s hearing.

Bond set at $10,000 for defendant Misty Hampton

Signature bond has been set at $10,000 for defendant Misty Hampton, a former Coffee County elections supervisor. That includes $4,000 for the alleged violation of Georgia’s RICO law and $6,000 for six counts of alleged criminal conspiracy.

If Hampton does not turn herself in by noon ET on Friday, the bond order would be voided.

Attorney Sidney Powell’s bond set at $100,000

Co-defendant Sidney Powell, who helped lead Trump’s post-campaign legal efforts and promoted conspiracy theories, has agreed to a $100,000 bond.

Powell was charged last week with violating Georgia’s RICO act as part of the Fulton County indictment. The bond amount for the charge was set to $40,000.

The bond order also includes counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, computer theft, computer trespass and computer invasion of privacy, as well as conspiracy to defraud the state. The bond amount for those counts were set to $10,000 each.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed requests in August of last year to compel testimony from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Powell, saying they were in communication with Trump, his campaign “and other known and unknown individuals involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere.”

Powell previously testified before the former House Jan. 6 committee and said that Trump asked her to serve as “special counsel” to address election issues and to collect evidence — which allegedly included attempts to gather election data from elections equipment in rural Coffee County, Georgia, in early January 2021.

Attorney John Esposito to accompany Rudy Giuliani to Georgia to handle his bail and surrender

New York-based attorney John Esposito is heading to Atlanta with Rudy Giuliani to handle his bail and surrender.

Esposito works at the law firm Aidala, Bertuna and Kamins and is a former Manhattan assistant district attorney.

When they arrive, they will go to the local counsel’s office, where Giuliani will remain as attorneys go to District Attorney Fani Willis’s office to negotiate a bail amount and sign documents. Those documents will be presented to a judge for approval.

Giuliani has already secured a bail bondsman. Once bond is secured, Giuliani will head to the Rice Street police station, where he will be fingerprinted and photographed. His arraignment is expected in the next week or two and may take place virtually. 

Attorney Brian Tevis of the Tevis Law Firm will serve as local counsel. He previously worked for the Atlanta Public Defenders Office in the Atlanta Judicial District.

Adam Reiss, Tom Winter, Vaughn Hillyard and Jonathan Dienst contributed to this report.

Trump fundraised for Jan. 6 defendants

Trump participated in a fundraiser last night for Jan. 6 defendants, a source familiar with the event told NBC News.

The event was held at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The former president was also involved in a similar fundraiser in June. At that event, he said he would donate to the group. Last December, Trump also shared a video in support of another fundraiser for defendants charged in the insurrection Jan. 6, 2021.

Four more Trump co-defendants surrender in Fulton County

Trump to travel to Georgia tomorrow afternoon and surrender later in the night

Trump is expected to travel to Georgia tomorrow afternoon and plans to surrender to authorities at the Fulton County jail later in the night, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Giuliani to surrender to authorities in Georgia election probe

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer who championed the former president’s bogus election fraud claims, said he will turn himself in to authorities in Georgia today to face racketeering charges alleging he meddled in the state’s 2020 presidential election.

“I’m going to Fulton County to comply with the law, which I always do,” he told reporters before leaving for Georgia. “I don’t know if I plea today but if I do I plead not guilty.”

Giuliani and Trump both face 13 counts, more than the other 17 defendants in the case.

The former New York City mayor has maintained his innocence, and claimed the only thing he’s guilty of was zealously advocating for his client. “I never thought I’d ever get indicted for being a lawyer,” Giuliani said on his radio show last week.

The indictment in Fulton County alleges that Giuliani was a key part of a criminal conspiracy,  pressing election officials in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania to act on voting fraud claims that he was repeatedly told were false. Giuliani was also charged with promoting false claims that voting machines were rigged, and making false claims in sworn legal filings.

Read the full story here.

Kenneth Chesebro, who crafted so-called fake electors scheme, and lawyer Ray Smith surrender

Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer associated with Donald Trump’s campaign who allegedly crafted the legal plan behind the so-called fake electors scheme, surrendered to Georgia authorities today after he was indicted on racketeering and other charges in the Georgia 2020 election investigation.

In addition to allegedly violating the Georgia Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, Chesebro faces six conspiracy-related counts, including forgery in the first degree and filing false documents. He was indicted along with Trump and 17 other defendants in Fani Willis’ probe last week on charges related to alleged attempts made by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state.

After Chesebro was indicted, his attorney Scott Grubman said Chesebro had been giving the Trump campaign legal advice and “stands ready to defend himself against these unfounded charges.”

Ray Smith, another lawyer allegedly involved in the electors scheme, also turned himself in today. He faces charges including racketeering, consipiracy, soliciting a violation of oath of office by a public official, and making false statements.

While the Georgia probe is the first time Chesebro has been charged in connection with attempts to keep Trump in power, he appears to be one of the six unindicted co-conspirators in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal indictment of Trump on on allegations that he conspired to block the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden after losing the election.

Separately, NBC News reported last week that public source video appeared to show Chesebro walking around Capitol grounds and capturing mobile video on Jan. 6, 2021. But at no point in the video viewed by NBC News does the man believed to be Chesebro enter the Capitol.

Former state GOP chair tweets booking photo after arrest

David Shafer, a former Georgia Republican Party chair and Trump “elector” who was booked at the Fulton County Jail early this morning and released, has tweeted out his mugshot. The county sheriff, which has not released photos of those booked today, confirmed its authenticity.

Trump ‘electors’ Shafer and Cathy Latham surrender

Trump “electors” David Shafer and Cathy Latham surrendered and were booked at Fulton County Jail early this morning and released, jail records show.

Shafer, a former Georgia GOP chairman, was indicted on racketeering and other charges in the Fulton County election subversion case. His surrender comes a day after his bond was set at $75,000.

Shafer, who was allegedly one of the false electors for Trump in Georgia after the former president lost the 2020 election, faces eight counts in District Attorney Fani Willis’ sweeping indictment against Trump and his 18 co-defendants. The charges against Shafer include two counts of false statements and writings and one count of criminal attempt to commit filing false documents and impersonating a public officer.

Latham, who served as chair of the Coffee County GOP, also allegedly served as one of Trump’s false presidential electors. She faces 11 counts in District Attorney Fani Willis’ sweeping indictment against Trump and his 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election probe.

The charges against Latham include impersonating a public officer, criminal attempt to commit filing false documents, and various conspiracy related counts to commit election fraud stemming from alleged efforts to illegally access voting machines in Coffee County. Court records yesterday showed that Latham had her bond set at $75,000.

Witness testimony changed in a separate Trump criminal case, special counsel says

Trump is facing four criminal cases. Yesterday, prosecutors in the Florida-based classified documents case disclosed in a filing that a witness’s testimony changed after changing lawyers.

What happens if Trump violates his Fulton County bond conditions?

After Trump surrenders to Fulton County authorities tomorrow, the former president will be released from custody in Georgia under an already agreed-upon set of conditions, including a $200,000 bond.

As part of the conditions, Trump will be prohibited from doing anything a judge could interpret as an effort to intimidate co-defendants or witnesses or “otherwise obstruct the administration of justice.”

More specifically, Trump “shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature” against any co-defendant, witness or victim, the community or property in the community.

Read the full story.