Trump is expected to be booked at Fulton County jail, sheriff says
From CNN's Jason Morris and Marshall Cohen
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a fundraiser event for the Alabama GOP, on August 4, in Montgomery, Alabama. Butch Dill/AP
Former President Donald Trump is expected to surrender at the Fulton County jail, the local sheriff said Tuesday in a statement.
Trump has not publicly indicated when he intends to surrender ahead of the August 25 deadline. The statement from the Fulton County Sheriff’s office addresses the key question of where the former president would be arrested and processed as a criminal defendant.
“At this point, based on guidance received from the district attorney’s office and presiding judge, it is expected that all 19 defendants named in the indictment will be booked at the Rice Street Jail,” the statement said. “Keep in mind, defendants can turn themselves in at any time. The jail is open 24/7,” the press release says. “Also, due to the unprecedented nature of this case, some circumstances may change with little or no warning.”
Most defendants charged in Fulton County are typically booked at the Fulton County jail.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat has previously suggested he wants to treat the defendants charged in the Trump election subversion case the same as any other defendant would be treated
“Unless someone tells me differently we will be following normal practices. It doesn’t matter your status we will have mug shots ready for you,” Labat said earlier this month on CNN.
8:19 p.m. ET, August 15, 2023
Giuliani is facing massive legal bills after defending Donald Trump
From CNN's Katelyn Polantz, Tierney Sneed and Jeremy Herb
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for former US President Donald Trump during challenges to the 2020 election results, exits U.S. District Court after attending a hearing in a defamation suit related to the 2020 election results that has been brought against Giuliani by two Georgia election workers, at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC, on May 19. Leah Millis/Reuters
Rudy Giuliani is staring down hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills and sanctions amid numerous lawsuits in addition to the new criminal charges – related to his work for Donald Trump after the 2020 election.
In court on Monday, the former New York City mayor said the legal quagmires have left him effectively out of cash. He even appears to have responded to some of the money crunch by listing for sale a 3-bedroom Manhattan apartment he owns for $6.5 million.
Not including standard legal fees, Giuliani faces nearly $90,000 in sanctions from a judge in a defamation case, a $20,000 monthly fee to a company to host his electronic records, $15,000 or more for a search of his records, and even a $57,000 judgment against his company for unpaid phone bills.
While he has declined in court to provide details of his financial state, his lawyers wrote this week that “producing a detailed financial report is only meant to embarrass Mr. Giuliani and draw attention to his misfortunes.”
Giuliani’s financial situation is likely to become even more difficult to navigate in the coming days. He faces potentially perilous court decisions against him in two 2020 election defamation lawsuits as early as this week.
While Giuliani’s attorneys’ fees have not been paid directly by Trump’s political action committee, Trump’s PAC paid more than $300,000 in May to a company handling Giuliani’s archived records for evidence preservation in court cases, according to federal campaign finance records and court filings.
“He is having financial difficulties,” Giuliani’s lawyers said in a filing this month in a civil defamation case brought by two Georgia election workers against him. “Giuliani needs more time to pay the attorneys’ fees and would like the opportunity to seek an extension from the Court.”
Giuliani is facing disbarment proceedings in DC and New York. His law license is already suspended – a situation his attorneys say leaves him further hampered from making money. And he is facing a personal lawsuit from an ex-employee filed in May, which he is contesting.
The criminal charges that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis brought against Trump, Giuliani and 17 others will undoubtedly add to the former mayor’s legal bills.
Here is a list of publicly available statements issued by some of the 19 defendants and the lawyers representing them in the case:
Trump lawyers Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg: "The events that have unfolded today have been shocking and absurd, starting with the leak of a presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated and ending with the District Attorney being unable to offer any explanation. In light of this major fumble, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office clearly decided to force through and rush this 98-page indictment. This one-sided grand jury presentation relied on witnesses who harbor their own personal and political interests — some of whom ran campaigns touting their efforts against the accused and/or profited from book deals and employment opportunities as a result. We look forward to a detailed review of this indictment which is undoubtedly just as flawed and unconstitutional as this entire process has been."
Donald Trump on his social platform Truth Social: "So, the Witch Hunt continues! 19 people Indicated tonight, including the former President of the United States, me, by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, 'I will get Trump.' And what about those Indictment Documents put out today, long before the Grand Jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds Rigged to me! Why didn’t they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!"
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former lawyer: "This is an affront to American Democracy and does permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system. It's just the next chapter in a book of lies with the purpose of framing President Donald Trump and anyone willing to take on the ruling regime. They lied about Russian collusion, they lied about Joe Biden's foreign bribery scheme, and they lied about Hunter Biden's laptop hard drive proving 30 years of criminal activity. The real criminals here are the people who have brought this case forward both directly and indirectly"
Harvey Silverglate, co-counsel for defendant John Eastman: "The indictment in Georgia vs. Donald Trump and 18 others sets out activity that is political, but not criminal. It goes hand-in-glove with the recent effort to criminalize lawful political speech and legal advice, in stark violation of constitutional rights to Freedom of Speech, Right to Petition the Government for Redress of Grievances, and the Right to Counsel. Lawyers everywhere should be sleepless over this latest stunt to criminalize their advocacy. This is a legal cluster-bomb that leaves unexploded ordinances for lawyers to navigate in perpetuity. Dr. Eastman will challenge this indictment in any and all forums available to him."
Rachel Cauley, spokesman for Center for Renewing America, on behalf of Jeffrey Clark : "Jeff Clark is a brilliant legal mind who has litigated cases of national significance in and out of government for decades. Willis is exceeding her powers by inserting herself into the operations of the federal government to go after Jeff. She even jumped the gun and illegally presumed an indictment before it was issued. It's clear Willis aspires to higher office and is using this witch hunt to climb the political ladder. Jeff Clark was simply doing his job in 2020 and he doesn't deserve to be subjected to this naked political lawfare, especially not by a publicity hound like Willis."
6:59 p.m. ET, August 15, 2023
Fulton County clerk says document Reuters published before Trump indictment was a "sample"
From CNN's Zachary Cohen
One day after claiming Reuters published a "fictitious" document outlining potential charges against former President Donald Trump before they were actually filed, the Fulton County court clerk's office issued a new statement acknowledging that it was actually a "sample" document that it accidentally posted to the court's website.
The Reuters report caused an uproar Monday, several hours before Trump and 18 others were formally charged in a sweeping indictment by state-level prosecutors in Georgia alleging they took part in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results there.
The new statement from the clerk's office states that a media outlet obtained "a docket sheet and shared it with other media outlets who then released the sample working document related to the former United States President, Donald Trump — reporting that an indictment had been returned by the Special Grand Jury in Fulton County Georgia.”
“Upon learning of the mishap, Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts Ché Alexander immediately removed the document and issued correspondence notifying the media that a fictitious document was in circulation and that no indictment had been returned by the Grand Jury," the statement said Tuesday.
The statement goes on to say that Alexander had entered the document into the system “to test the system and conduct a trial run.” But “the sample working document led to the docketing of what appeared to be an indictment, but which was, in fact, only a fictitious docket sheet."
6:52 p.m. ET, August 15, 2023
These are the post-election incidents that led to Georgia charges against Trump and allies
From CNN's Katelyn Polantz
Georgia prosecutors allege that former President Donald Trump and his allies broke state laws during about a dozen separate incidents after the 2020 election, according to the indictment made public Monday night.
There are 41 overall charges in the case, which was brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The first charge involves Georgia’s anti-racketeering law known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. But the next 40 non-racketeering charges stem from roughly a dozen key incidents after the 2020 election.
The events, and the crimes the Trump group allegedly committed, break down this way:
Counts 2-4: Presentation of fraud claims to Georgia Senate: Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others are accused of making false statements about election fraud and pressuring members of the Georgia Senate while presenting to a legislative panel in early December 2020.
Count 5: Call to Georgia House Speaker: Trump is charged with asking then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to call a special session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Count 6-7: Presentation of fraud claims to Georgia House: Two charges accuse Giuliani and another man of breaking the law as they presented a video of vote counting at State Farm Arena, misconstruing it, to the Georgia House of Representatives.
Count 8-19: Fake electors scheme: This series of charges capture the fake elector scheme. A trio of Georgia residents were charged with crimes including forgery. Trump, Giuliani, Trump lawyer John Eastman and others around Trump's campaign were charged with conspiracies related to the fake electors.
Count 20-21: First attempt to intimidate Atlanta election worker: Illinois pastor Stephen Lee is charged with two charges of attempting to influence witness Ruby Freeman, a 2020 election worker in Fulton County. Prosecutors say Lee went to Freeman's home, knocked on her door and spoke to a neighbor. He was “purporting to offer her help” with the intent to influence her testimony about the vote counting in Atlanta, the indictment said.
Count 22: Trying to get DOJ to intervene in Georgia: Jeffrey Clark is charged with an attempt to make false statements when he tried to persuade the Justice Department to make false assertions in Georgia about the validity of the election's results.
Count 23-26: Communication with Georgia Senate about voter fraud: These four charges capture efforts by Giuliani and others to influence and make false statements to the Georgia Senate on December 30, 2020, when he falsely told them thousands of dead people and felons voted in the election and smeared the vote counting at the State Farm Arena.
Count 27: Filing election lawsuit: This charge accuses Donald Trump and John Eastman of filing false information about votes in a federal court case that sought to block Georgia's election result.
Count 28-29: Phone call to Georgia Secretary of State: Donald Trump and his White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows are charged around the call they made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, where Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to flip the results.
Count 30-31: Second attempt to influence Atlanta election worker: Three people are charged with conspiracy to solicit false statements from Ruby Freeman and trying to influence her on January 4, 2021.
Count 32-37: Coffee County voting machine breach: Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell and others are accused of conspiracies of computer theft, computer trespassing, invasion of privacy and election fraud related to the breach of voting machines in rural Coffee County, Georgia.
Count 38-39: Letter sent to Georgia Secretary of State: Donald Trump is charged with solicitation and false statements related to a letter he sent to Raffensperger in September 2021.
Count 40-41: Alleged lies to investigators and grand jury perjury: These are two charges that relate to the course of the investigation. Georgia GOP chairman David Shafer is accused of lying to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office investigators. Robert Cheeley is also accused of perjuring himself before the Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury.
6:28 p.m. ET, August 15, 2023
Meadows is trying to move the Fulton County case to federal court, filings show
From CNN's Tierney Sneed
Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is seeking to move the new Fulton County prosecution against him out of Georgia to federal court so that he can try to get the case dismissed under federal law, according to court filings.
Meadows argued that he is entitled to bring a federal immunity defense because the Georgia state charges against him stem from his conduct as then-President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, the court filing submitted in the US District Court of the Northern District of Georgia said Tuesday.
He said he intends to submit at a “later date” a more comprehensive request laying out why the case should be dismissed under federal law. But in the meantime, he argued that the federal court should move the charges out of state court, and into federal court, effectively halting the state-level proceedings against him.
“Even if the Court is not prepared to dismiss outright at this early stage, however, justice requires granting removal and halting any further state-court proceedings against Mr. Meadows,” the filing said. “That will allow for the timely consideration of Mr. Meadows’s defenses, including his federal defense under the Supremacy Clause, without requiring him to defend himself in state court simultaneously.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Meadows with violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering act known as RICO, and with soliciting a public official to violate their oath.
To be clear, Meadows’ request would not move the entirety of Willis case – which includes 18 other defendants and 41 total criminal charges – to federal court. Rather, it would be defendant-by-defendant endeavor.
According to the docket, Meadows’ removal request has been assigned to US District Judge Steve Jones, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.
Meadows is not expected to be only defendant who seeks to the move Willis’s charges to federal court, in order to potentially get the case dismissed quickly.
The law says that criminal actions brought in state court may be “removed” to federal court if the prosecution relates to conduct performed “under color” of a US office or agency.
Experts in Georgia criminal law told CNN Wednesday that they thought it was possible that government employees like former President Donald Trump, as well as former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, among others, would raise such arguments.
6:42 p.m. ET, August 15, 2023
Giuliani says he will surrender next week after indictment and believes case should be moved to federal court
From CNN's Abby Baggini
Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he would pick a day next week to surrender to authorities in Fulton County and work out the conditions for bail after he was indicted in the Georgia 2020 election subversion case.
"There has to be bail, I imagine," Giuliani said on WABC talk radio. "Kind of silly for me to have bail, I mean I showed up there voluntarily and testified. I also showed up there for hearings and I've showed up for every place I've ever been asked to show up. So if they really need bail on me, you know it's just punitive."
Giuliani argued the indictment jurisdiction should be changed from state to federal court or the case should be dismissed.
Giuliani said that under US Code Title 28 Judicial Procedure 1442, the case qualifies for "almost an automatic removal" to a federal court since he was working as an agent for someone in a federal office, a reference to his role as an attorney for President Donald Trump.
Notably, he did not directly mention the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute under which he was charged, which he famously used himself to prosecute various Mafia members in the 1980s as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Speaking on the Greg Kelly show, the former New York City mayor said he was anxious to fight the case. "We're going to beat these fascists into the ground," he said.
These are the 19 people charged in the Georgia case, according to the indictment
From CNN's Marshall Cohen and Devan Cole
Donald Trump, Rudy Guiliani, John Eastman Jeffrey Clark, Jenna Ellis, Ray Smith, Robert Cheeley, David Shafer, Shawn Still, Harrison Floyd, Trevian Kutti, Sidney Powell, Cathy Latham, Scott Hall and Misty Hampton. AP, Getty Images, Shutterstock, From LinkedIn
An Atlanta-based grand jury on Monday indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants on state charges stemming from their efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat in the Peach State.
Here are the 19 people charged in the Georgia case, according to the indictment.
Donald Trump, former US president
Rudy Giuliani, Trump lawyer
Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff
John Eastman, Trump lawyer
Kenneth Chesebro, pro-Trump lawyer
Jeffrey Clark, top Justice Department official
Jenna Ellis, Trump campaign lawyer
Robert Cheeley, lawyer who promoted fraud claims
Mike Roman, Trump campaign official
David Shafer, Georgia GOP chair and fake elector
Shawn Still, fake GOP elector
Stephen Lee, pastor tied to intimidation of election workers
Harrison Floyd, leader of Black Voices for Trump
Trevian Kutti, publicist tied to intimidation of election workers
Sidney Powell, Trump campaign lawyer
Cathy Latham, fake GOP elector tied to Coffee County breach
Scott Hall, tied to Coffee County election system breach
The judge assigned to oversee Trump's case in Fulton County is a former prosecutor and a lifelong Georgian
From CNN's Shawna Mizelle
Judge Scott McAfee From the Superior Court of Fulton County
The latest indictment against former President Donald Trump in the Georgia 2020 election probe has been assigned to a judge who is a lifelong Georgian.
Scott McAfee became a Fulton County Superior Court judge in February after a career in which he has worked as a prosecutor and state inspector general (IG), where he was “responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse in the Executive Branch of state government.”
When he was appointed inspector general in March 2021, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, called him a “strong addition to my administration.”
“His experience as a tough prosecutor equips him to search out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption, and bring those to justice who break the law,” Kemp said.
Prior to his IG role, he worked as the assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Georgia and as senior assistant district attorney in the Fulton County Atlanta Judicial Circuit. In those positions, he prosecuted cases on drug trafficking, fraud, armed robbery and murder.
According to his inspector general biography, McAfee obtained his undergraduate degree from Emory University in music, where he received a scholarship to play cello in the university’s orchestra. He received his JD from the University of Georgia School of Law.
He grew up in Kennesaw, Georgia, and is married with a wife and two children. In addition to his professional legal career, McAfee is a volunteer scuba diver and captain of his tennis team.
