A judge has begun setting bond and release conditions for former President Donald Trump and some of his 18 co-defendants in the Georgia case alleging that they unlawfully interfered in the 2020 election.
According to newly posted court records (pdf) in Fulton County, Georgia, on Aug. 21, Judge Scott McAfee set bond for President Trump at $200,000.
Four other co-defendants reached bond agreements on Aug. 15, court filings show. Attorney John Eastman’s bond was set at $100,000. The bond amount was far lower, at $10,000, for Scott Hall, a bail bondsman who’s accused in the case. Attorney Kenneth Chesebro’s bond was set at $100,000, and attorney Ray Smith III’s bond is $50,000.
All five of the defendants are allowed to post 10 percent of the amount in a surety bond to guarantee future court appearances.
In addition to requiring the defendants to post the bond amounts, the judge is restricting whom the men can contact and what they can say. “The defendant shall not communicate in any way, directly or indirectly, about the facts of this case” with known co-defendants or with known witnesses, the documents for all five men state. However, they may use attorneys as conduits to contact co-defendants or witnesses, the orders state.
The order bars them from committing any acts to intimidate known co-defendants or known witnesses. They also must not “otherwise obstruct the administration of justice,” the orders state.
The order for President Trump goes into much more detail on the restrictions, however. It explicitly prohibits him from making a “direct or indirect threat of any nature against any co-defendant,” any victim, “the community or to any property in the community,” or any witness including the unnamed, uncharged 30 co-conspirators referenced in the indictment. Specifically, the order states, “the above shall include, but are not limited to, posts on social media or reposts of posts made by another individual on social media.”
In the indictment filed on Aug. 14, the defendants are all accused of participating in a coordinated, allegedly unlawful effort to help President Trump remain in power after government officials declared that Democrat Joe Biden was the winner of the November 2020 presidential election in Georgia and in other contested states.
By Janice Hisle
