Donald Trump’s Bond Set at $200,000 in Georgia Election Subversion Case
Former President Donald Trump says he will surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday to face charges in the case accusing him of illegally attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss.
“Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED,” Trump wrote on his social media network on Monday night, hours after court papers said his bond was $200,000.
In a news release issued Monday afternoon, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office stated that when Trump surrenders, the area surrounding the main county jail will be placed under “hard lockdown.”
In a court document published online on Monday, bond amounts for the 13 charges against the former president ranged from $10,000 for criminal conspiracy and filing false documents to $80,000 for violating the Georgia Rico Act, which is frequently used against organized crime.
Terms included a prohibition of “act[ing] to intimidate any person known to … be a codefendant or witness in this case”, including in “posts on social media”.
Grand jurors in Georgia are the subject of an investigation by Georgian authorities.
The bond document also said that Trump “shall not communicate in any way, directly or indirectly, about the facts of this case with any person known to him to be a codefendant except through his or her counsel”.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has set a Friday noon deadline for Trump and his 18 co-defendants to surrender and be booked. The prosecutor has proposed that the defendants be arraigned during the week of September 5th.
She has stated that she intends to try the defendants collectively and bring the case to trial in March of next year, amid the presidential nominating season.
When a defendant is not in custody in Fulton County, their attorneys and the district attorney’s office will frequently negotiate a bond amount before the arraignment, and the judge will approve it.
The defendants will generally be booked at the Fulton County jail.
Individuals are typically photographed, fingerprinted, and asked to provide identifying information during the booking procedure. Since Trump’s bond has already been established, he will be released upon completion of the booking process.
John Eastman, a law professor who assisted Trump in his bid to reverse Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, had his bond set at $100,000.
Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, is also a defendant. The defendants have until Friday at 12 p.m. ET to turn themselves in.
A superior court judge, three Trump attorneys, and Willis, who last week obtained indictments against Trump and 18 of his associates and allies, all signed the document pertaining to Trump’s bond.
Willis has proposed that arraignments commence the week of September 5 before a March trial.
Trump denies wrongdoing in Georgia and three other indictments that resulted in 91 criminal charges.
The charges include federal and state election subversion in 2020, the retention of classified information after leaving office, and hush money payments to a pornstar during the 2016 presidential election.
Despite this unprecedented legal peril, including civil investigations of Trump’s business affairs and a defamation case in which a judge declared Trump a rapist, the former president leads the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Ahead of the first debate on Wednesday, which Trump will not attend, he leads his nearest challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, by about 40 points in national polling averages and by large margins in key states.
Legal and Social Media: Trump’s Bond Conditions Under Discussion
On social media on Monday, some observers questioned whether Trump, known for attacking enemies on social media (as he did the same day, targeting Georgia Governor Brian Kemp), would follow the terms of his bond.
“Barring a real come-to-Jesus moment,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State law professor, “the only way Trump doesn’t violate his… conditions is if his lawyers confiscate his phone.”
Others have pointed out how Trump has used his predicament to fund his campaign to return to the White House, which is widely regarded as his best chance of avoiding prison.
Ron Filipkowski, a Florida attorney turned viral Trump critic, said it was “time to shake down the donors.”
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Source: The Guardian
