Former President Donald Trump surrendered at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Thursday evening and booked on more than a dozen charges stemming from what prosecutors say were efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
He arrived for his booking at 7:30pm, escorted by a Secret Service entourage at least a dozen black cars deep and a motorcade of law enforcement officials after traveling on his private jet from his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Afterward, he made brief – and defiant – remarks.
“If you challenge an election, you should be able to challenge the election. I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election. And I should have every right to do that,” he said before boarding his plane. “What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong.”
Throngs of Trump’s supporters and critics alike gathered early in the morning behind barricades in the parking lot across from the infamous jail ahead of the former president’s arrival, holding signs, shouting from megaphones and waving flags.
Converging with the heavy media presence and tight security, it was all but certainly the media circus Trump had hoped it would be in the wake of the first GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday evening, which the former president chose to sit out, citing his record-setting lead in polling.
Trump and 18 of his closest allies are being charged in a sweeping racketeering scheme, which involved spreading conspiracy theories, pressuring elected officials and propping up fake electors to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia in a desperate effort to remain in power despite having lost the presidency in a free and fair vote.
The charges follow a two-year investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The indictment marks the fourth set of criminal charges against Trump, who now faces a cumulative 91 felony counts in New York state court for hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, in federal court in Florida for mishandling classified documents, in federal court in the District of Columbia for his efforts to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and incite a violent insurrection at the Capitol and now in Georgia.
Sheriff Pat Labat maintained that Trump would be treated like anyone else accused of a crime by a grand jury – and by all accounts he was. The booking process has become somewhat commonplace for Trump, even though it remains unprecedented among former presidents.
But unlike his other surrenders, this one included a photograph – a mugshot that became a part of American history the second the shutter clicked as the first former U.S. president was captured through the lens. The photo is set to be released by the county sheriff’s office on Friday.
Trump, who is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied wrongdoing in all the cases against him and continues to repeat unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged and stolen.” In reality, Trump lost the general election to Biden, and, in Georgia specifically, he lost by some 11,779 votes.
Trump, in his remarks, repeated claims that his indictments are an attempt by Democrats and the so-called “deep state” to undermine his candidacy for president.
“What they're doing is election interference. They're trying to interfere with an election,” he said. “There’s never been anything like it in our country before. This is their way of campaigning.”
The conditions for his release, which were set last week, include a $200,000 bond and strict conditions on his social media use. Among other things, he must not violate any laws in Georgia or elsewhere, he must appear in court as directed, he must not communicate about the facts of the case with fellow co-defendants – except through his legal team – and he must not intimidate co-defendants or witnesses.
Hours before his surrender, Trump replaced one of his leading attorneys, Drew Findling, with Steve Sadow, a widely respected criminal defense lawyer in Atlanta who recently defended a rapper in a racketeering case. Shadow has long criticized Georgia prosecutors for overusing the state’s RICO law.
The sudden change in defense came as a surprise – though not entirely out of character for Trump, who has been burning through attorneys in recent months as his legal challenges mount.
At least 12 of Trump’s 18 co-defendants have surrendered already, including Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, former U.S. acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark and Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, had sought to delay his surrender date until a decision was made on his request to move his charges to federal court and dismiss the indictment altogether. But a federal judge on Wednesday denied him an extension.
The handful of other co-defendants who have yet to surrender have until noon on Friday before Willis issues warrants for their arrests.
Willis initially proposed that the trial begin on March 4 – adding to an already busy legal calendar for Trump heading into the 2024 election. But the former president is seeking to delay the case for as long as possible, including by lengthy pre-trial motions and a petition to move the charges to a federal court. Legal experts say Willis' timeline is likely untenable – though she did file a motion on Thursday to move up the timeline for the trial to Oct. 23 after one of the co-defendants filed a request for a speedy trial.
四 | 根据长滩市的数据显示，在无家可归者紧急状态期间，该市仅让227人摆脱了无家可归的困境，实现了自给自足。目前，共有733人参加了永久性住房计划。长滩市的“住房优先”战略已经变成了一个旋转门，让太多有毒瘾和精神不稳定的人在没有接受治疗的情况下获得临时住房。贝里说：“如果在城市实施法律，给人们选择去戒毒所还是进监狱。根据我的经验，他们会选择康复中心。”选民投票自发解决问题随着无家可归人数的不断激增。过去几年中，随着盗窃、抢劫等犯罪率不断飙升，加州的州法《47号法案》受到不同族裔、不同党派民众的谴责，甚至成为全美各地人们眼中的治安“笑话”。根据2014年通过的《47号法案》，持有毒品、偷窃、商店盗窃、伪造支票等重罪都变成了轻罪；950美元以下的盗窃，即使罪犯屡次犯罪也无需入狱，也不会采集DNA标本。在今年的大选年，民间发起一项名为“减少无家可归、吸毒成瘾和盗窃法案”（Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Retail Theft Reduction Act）的全州倡议，旨在修复《47号法案》制造出的混乱。只要在4月底征签到大约55万个有效选民签名，该倡议就可登上11月选票，进行全民公投。在的一个视频会议上，平等公义协会（OJE）主席李少敏说：“这是一项期待已久的倡议。在最近的一项调查中，超过70%的受访者支持这一倡议。”李少敏表示，只要签名数过关并将倡议成功送上选票，大多数选民都会投下“同意”票，更改现在极端恶化的的治安现状。他也因此呼吁加州选民在为数不多的时间内响应此次倡议，尽快签名。倡议将修复《47号法案》目前的加州，“零元购”、快闪抢劫、毒品过量死亡等案件层出不穷；毒贩、吸毒者、无家可归者随处可见，这也导致了零售公司纷纷离开加州，而造成这一原因的主要原因就是《47号法案》造成的，每个人都成了受害者。数据显示，2022年有近80万人离开加州，离开加州的原因除了生活成本高涨之外，治安恶化是另一个主要因素。在过去三年中，加州数十位议员至少推出了七个修复《47号法案》的相关解决提案，却都被州议会否决了，因此只能通过全民公投的方式改变现状。“减少无家可归、吸毒成瘾和盗窃法案”包含三个重点：1）任何持有鸦片和可卡因等硬性毒品的人都将被要求接受戒毒，否则将面临重罪指控；2）加强对毒贩特别是芬太尼毒贩的惩罚，旨在阻止进一步犯罪；3）任何因盗窃而被捕的人，无论盗窃金额大小，都将被视为重罪。
七 | 倡议要求吸毒者必须接受戒毒治疗，并不是以惩罚和监禁为目的，而是非常人性化地要求这些人接受良好的治疗，既能避免更多因毒品过量死亡的悲剧，也能减少吸毒成瘾者为毒犯罪或沦落为游民。全州已征集到逾30万签名李少敏提醒选民，州总检察长办公室将“减少无家可归、吸毒成瘾和盗窃法案”倡议更名为“允许对某些毒品和盗窃犯罪提出重罪指控并加重刑罚”（Allows Felony Charges and Enhanced Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes），并且撰写误导选民的选票概述，试图混淆选民的正确判断。这种手法与当年《47号法案》通过时的手法如出一辙。被视为“臭名昭著”的《47号法案》，当年在投票时被时任加州总检察长的贺锦丽写成了“安全社区和学校法”。许多选民后悔地表示，当初就是被这个名字误导才投下了赞成票。截至目前，要求修订加州《47号法案》的请愿书已征得逾30万个选民签名。同时该倡议还获得了加州民选官员、执法机构、企业等各方支持背书，包括加州32个县的地区检察官、14个县警署警长及众多执法机构、州警长协会（California State Sheriffs’ Association）、州地方检察官协会（California District Attorneys Association）、旧金山和圣荷西等多个城市市长，以及沃尔玛等企业。特朗普竞选口号打击“无家可归”受够了游民遍地、打砸抢肆虐、毒品充斥社区的加州选民，可以在即将来临的11月份大选中作出改变。根据TIPP最近的一项民意调查显示，超过三分之二的美国成年人表示无家可归现象已经失控，官员们需要将那些露宿街头的人转移到城镇外的帐篷营地。调查显示，67% 的美国人厌倦了该国无家可归者数量的快速增加，并希望市长们采取严厉措施解决这一祸害。
