Atlanta, US, Aug 24 (EFE).- Former United States President Donald Trump (2017-2021) on Thursday turned himself in to police in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is accused of 13 crimes for attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential elections in the state.
Former US President Donald Trump gestures a thumbs up as he departs the Fulton County Jail after turning himself into authorities after a grand jury indictment against him and 18 co-defendants for 2020 election interference in Atlanta, Georgia, US, 24 August 2023. EFE-EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
Twenty minutes later, after his fingerprints and mugshot were taken, Trump was released from the Fulton County jail on a $200,000 bond agreed upon with prosecutors.
The motorcade of former US President Donald Trump leaves the Fulton County Jail after Trump turned himself into authorities following a grand jury indictment against him and 18 co-defendants for 2020 election interference in Atlanta, Georgia, US, 24 August 2023. EFE-EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
He left the prison in a convoy of armored vehicles escorted by the Secret Service agents in charge of his security.
A large police escort leads the vehicle carrying former US President Donald Trump after he arrived at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport to turn himself into authorities at the Fulton County Jail after a grand jury indictment against him and 18 co-defendants for 2020 election interference in Atlanta, Georgia, US, 24 August 2023. EFE-EPA/EDWARD M. PIO RODA
The former president, who traveled from New Jersey to the Georgian capital, was required to surrender to authorities by Friday.
Former US President Donald Trump boards his plane at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport after turning himself into authorities at the Fulton County Jail following a grand jury indictment against him and 18 co-defendants for 2020 election interference in Atlanta, Georgia, US, 24 August 2023. EFE-EPA/EDWARD M. PIO RODA
Trump was indicted last week on 13 counts by a Georgia grand jury for trying to rig the results of the 2020 election in the state, where incumbent Joe Biden narrowly won.
The plane carrying former US President Donald Trump arrives at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, US, 24 August 2023. EFE-EPA/EDWARD M. PIO RODA
Among the crimes he is accused of is violating the RICO law, commonly used against mafia bosses, which could lead to several years in prison if proven during the trial.
This is Trump’s fourth criminal indictment although the first in which he has been summoned to jail and had a mugshot taken of him.
It comes after he was indicted two weeks ago by a Washington DC grand jury on four counts of allegedly trying to reverse the outcome of the US election.
In addition, Trump has been charged in New York with 34 counts for alleged “hush money” payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he allegedly had an “affair” in the past, to buy her silence during the 2016 election campaign.
The other criminal case is in Florida, where he is charged with 40 counts for illegally removing and keeping classified documents that he took from the White House in his Mar-a-Lago mansion.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has indicted Trump and 18 others on 41 counts, including 13 against Trump, of election fraud in Georgia, where Trump narrowly lost to incumbent Democrat Joe Biden.
If found guilty on all charges, the former Republican president could be sentenced to up to 76.5 years in prison.
One of the main pieces of evidence against him is the recording of a January 2021 phone call in which he asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes.”
Trump calls the cases against him a “witch hunt” and continues to assert that he won the 2020 election.
“Nobody has ever fought for election integrity like President Donald J. Trump. For doing so, I will proudly be arrested tomorrow afternoon in Georgia. God bless the United States of America!!” he wrote on social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday.
At least 9 of the 19 defendants in this case have already turned themselves in at Fulton County prison and have been released on bail, including Trump’s former lawyer and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Trump, the clear favorite to win the 2024 Republican presidential nod, did not participate in the party’s first primary debate on Wednesday. EFE
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