Mug shots: Co-defendants surrender in Georgia election interference case
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Twelve of the 19 defendants indicted in Fulton County's investigation into possible interference in Georgia's 2020 presidential election have surrendered to authorities.
That number grew Thursday as former President Donald Trump touched down in Atlanta for an hour to turn himself in at the Fulton County Jail.
Wednesday, Trump's lawyer and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was among the seven people who were processed at the jail and subsequently released on bond.
Bond for Giuliani was set at $150,000, second only to Trump’s $200,000.
Giuliani, 79, is accused of spearheading Trump’s efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia and other closely contested states to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint electoral college electors favorable to Trump.
JUDGE SETS BOND FOR TRUMP ALLIES IN GEORGIA ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE
Outside the Fulton County Jail Wednesday afternoon, Giuliani laughed when asked if he regretted allying himself with Trump.
"I am very, very honored to be involved in this case because this case is a fight for our way of life," Giuliani told reporters. "This indictment is a travesty. It’s an attack on -- not just me, not just President Trump, not just the people in this indictment, some of whom I don’t even know – this is an attack on the American people."
Other high-profile defendants also surrendered Wednesday, including Jenna Ellis, an attorney who prosecutors say was involved in efforts to convince state lawmakers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors, and lawyer Sidney Powell, accused of making false statements about the election in Georgia and helping to organize a breach of voting equipment in rural Coffee County.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark both tried to have the case against them heard in federal court rather than in Fulton County Superior Court. Both argue the actions that gave rise to the charges in the indictment were related to their work as federal officials and that the case should be moved to federal court and the charges against them dismissed.
But on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones denied both Meadows and Clark's requests.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, CO-DEFENDANTS IN FULTON COUNTY
Fulton County District Attorney Willis has set a deadline of noon on Friday for the people indicted last week in the election subversion case to turn themselves in. Her team has been negotiating bond amounts and conditions with the lawyers for the defendants before they surrender at the jail.
Judge: Mark Meadows, Jeffery Clark must surrender
A federal judge has rejected an attempt by two of the co-defendants to prevent their arrests. The emergency motions were filed by former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and Justice Department official Jeffery Clark to move the Fulton County cases to federal court.
Outside of Meadows and Clark, Georgia lawyer Robert Cheeley, former White House aide Michael Roman, former Georgia GOP finance chairman Shawn Still, pastor Stephen Cliffgard Lee, Black Voices for Trump director Harrison William Prescott Floyd, publicist Travian C. Kutti, and Coffee County elections director Misty Hampson are expected to turn themselves in Thursday or Friday.