Washington: Embattled Donald Trump has surrendered to authorities in Georgia on charges of plotting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results in an arrest that saw the first-ever mug shot of a former US president.
Trump, 77, spent about 22 minutes inside the Fulton County Jail on Thursday where he was booked on felony charges of racketeering and conspiracy linked to his alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 reelection loss in Georgia.
Trump was released pending trial after paying a USD 200,000 bond his lawyers negotiated earlier this week with Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis.
His surrender in Georgia marks the fourth time this year the former president has turned himself in after criminal charges were brought against him by federal and state officials. But it’s the first time he was subjected to a mug shot.
No previous US president has been charged with criminal offences. But Trump is now facing 91 charges across the four indictments for his alleged actions before, during and after his single-term presidency ended in January 2021.
Trump, a Republican, also posted the mug shot to his X account, formerly known as Twitter, as well as to Truth Social, both posts with the words “election interference” and “never surrender.” It marked Trump’s first tweet since January 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol riots.
The Fulton County Jail released a mugshot picture of him, which soon went viral. The jail authorities recorded him as being 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighing 215 pounds (97 kg), with blond or strawberry hair and blue eyes. His inmate number was P01135809.
Trump, the leading Republican contender for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination, told reporters that he has done nothing wrong.
“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong, and everybody knows that,” Trump said.
“What they’re doing is election interference,” he said.
“We did nothing wrong at all, and we have every right, every single right, to challenge an election that we think is dishonest,” Trump added.
The conditions of the agreement in part prohibit Trump from intimidating his co-defendants, witnesses or alleged victims in the case, including on social media.
Before he boarded his plane back to New Jersey, Trump said that it was “a very sad day for America.”
“You should be able to challenge an election,” he said. “I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election, and I should have every right to do that.”
Trump’s booking at the Fulton County Jail came 10 days after the former president was charged in Georgia in what was his fourth criminal indictment since March — and his second tied to his alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election results and remain in the White House.
Trump was charged alongside 18 co-defendants with meddling in Georgia’s election results following his loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat, by fewer than 12,000 votes in that state.
Trump is facing 13 counts in the Georgia case, including violating the state’s racketeering act, soliciting a public officer to violate their oath, conspiring to impersonate a public officer, conspiring to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiring to file false documents.
Trump argues the cases against him are politically motivated because he is leading the Republican race to challenge President Biden in next year’s presidential election.
Half of his co-accused have already been booked at Fulton County Jail in recent days ahead of Friday’s deadline. They include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Soon after his mug shot was released, Trump’s campaign released it to his supporters for fundraising.
“After spending years trying to overturn the 2020 election, Trump and his associates are FINALLY being held accountable. Our work is far from over, though,” his campaign wrote.
“This is truly a sad day for America,” wrote his son Donald J Trump Jr.
Ahead of his surrender, Trump made changes to his legal team, bringing in Steven Sadow, an Atlanta-based lawyer who specialises in white-collar and high-profile defence, The Washington Post newspaper reported.
Sadow entered his appearance as lead counsel for Trump on Thursday, according to a filing with the Fulton County Superior Court, and accompanied Trump to the jail.
Sadow is expected to replace Drew Findling, the lead attorney on Trump’s defence team.
Trump continued to criticise Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, whom he accuses of trying to sabotage his White House campaign.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, he blamed Willis for murder and violent crime in Atlanta, writing that “people are afraid to go outside to buy a loaf of bread”.
According to The New York Times, The booking of Trump at the Fulton County Jail is only the start of a long legal battle, made more complex by the case’s large number of other defendants.
The next step is arraignment — a formal first appearance before a judge to be formally charged, set bail and enter a plea. Willis has asked the court to hold the arraignments the week of September 5, the daily reported.
In all Trump faces 91 criminal cases in all four cases. This includes criminal prosecutions in New York in connection with a hush money payment, in Florida for his handling of classified documents and in Washington, DC, for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Republican presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy called Trump’s booking as shameful. “I think this is shameful. This is an indictment not of Donald Trump, but of our national civic health,” the Indian-American told Fox News.
