Trump Surrenders to Authorities in Atlanta, Released After Booking

Former President Donald Trump surrendered himself to authorities at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 24 at roughly 7:36 p.m. local time. He was released on a $200,000 bond in about 20 minutes after going through the booking process, including fingerprinting and having his picture taken for a mug shot—the first ever taken of a U.S. president.

His private jet landed at the Atlanta International Airport at 7:03 p.m., after which a 13-vehicle motorcade brought him to the notoriously dangerous jailhouse through a highway cleared off all traffic by the police.

President Trump had until noon on Aug. 25 to have himself booked to avoid arrest after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged him and 18 associates with dozens of crimes, including a racketeering conspiracy based on his efforts to challenge the official results of the 2020 election.

The Aug. 14 indictment alleges that a strategy devised by several lawyers advising President Trump to arrange alternative slates of electors in several states and thus delay the counting of the electoral votes amounted to a criminal enterprise.

After exiting the jail facility, President Trump was brought straight to the airport again, where he briefly addressed the media.

“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice, we did nothing wrong, I did nothing wrong. And everybody knows it. I’ve never had such support. And that goes with the other ones too,” he said, referring to the three other indictments he’s facing.

He then criticized the prosecutions as a tactic of his political opponents to thwart his 2024 run for office.

“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.”

Most of the case’s defendants already surrendered themselves, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was also a former lawyer for President Trump; Mark Meadows, former congressman and chief-of-staff to President Trump; attorneys John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Ray Smith III; alternate electors Cathleen Latham and David Shafer; and Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall.

All have been released on bond, except for Harrison Floyd, former head of Black Voices for Trump. Jail records indicate that he didn’t post bond and thus remains in custody.

By Petr Svab, Janice Hisle and Dan M. Berger

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