Former President Donald Trump surrendered at the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 24 following his indictment on 13 counts. These charges range from racketeering to solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, according to the BBC.
The former president has been booked, fingerprinted and had his mugshot taken as he was processed inside the Fulton County Jail. Shortly after, he posted bail and exited, speaking with reporters outside as reported by Atlanta News First.
“When you challenge an election, you should be able to challenge an election,” Trump said to reporters. “I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election, and I should have every right to do that.”
As of the time this article was written, the claim that the 2020 election was stolen is still unfounded, according to Politifact.
Trump’s surrender comes a week after a Fulton County grand jury returned a decision to indict the former president, along with 18 others listed as co-conspirators. District Attorney Fani Willis held a press conference following the breaking news that the former president has been indicted in what is now the fourth criminal case against him.
“Every individual charged in the indictment is charged with one count of violating Georgia’s racketeer, influenced and corrupt organizations act,” Willis said. “Through participation in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia and elsewhere to accomplish the illegal goal of allowing Donald J. Trump to seize the Presidential term of office.”
Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is similar to the federal statute but is broader in Georgia so that it can be applied to businesses conducting illegal activities.
According to WSB-TV, the law indicates that at least two qualifying crimes must be committed. This charge is a felony and, according to District Attorney Willis’ answer in her press conference, contains mandatory time served.
18 others were indicted along with Trump as co-conspirators, including the former president’s former attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Both Giuliani and Powell made various media and court appearances arguing that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election, according to PBS News and as shown by C-SPAN.
Each co-conspirator, as well as the former president himself, has posted bail. District Attorney Willis is now requesting a trial date for October, following her previous request for hearings to begin on March 4th, a week before Super Tuesday, according to Axios.
News broke after President Trump surrendered that the House Judiciary Committee has opened an investigation into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. According to Axios, the inquiry is into whether or not she is abusing her power as District Attorney and launching a “politically motivated” prosecution of the former president.