Live coverage from Fulton County: Trump, allies surrender in election interference case

Rudy Giuliani surrenders at Fulton County Jail

Former U.S. Attorney and ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani surrendered Wednesday afternoon to Fulton County authorities on criminal charges that he illegally conspired with Donald Trump and the former president’s other allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Giuliani on Wednesday agreed to pay a $150,000 bond to be set free on a 13 count indictment that includes charges he violated Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, committed criminal conspiracy, made false statements and writings, and solicited public officials to violate their oath. Giuliani, 79, is listed as 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds on his booking report.

Trump is scheduled to turn himself into the Fulton County jail on Thursday on charges related to being one of the ringleaders in alleged criminal racketeering and conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia and several other states.

Prior to arriving in Atlanta to meet with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Giuliani defended his involvement in attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to appoint an alternate slate of Republican electors to discredit Joe Biden’s close win over the former president in 2020.

Giuliani on Wednesday claimed that his support for Trump was about protecting American rights and compared his actions to his tenure as U.S. attorney in the 1980s, when he took down criminal mafia organizations in New York.

“I’m fighting for justice as I have been from the first moment I represented Donald Trump and as a man who has now been proven innocent several times,” he said in a brief appearance before the media in New York City before flying to a suburban Atlanta airport.

Giuliani also took aim at the indictment alleging that several of Trump’s former campaign and personal attorneys were involved in a criminal conspiracy.

“It’s not accidental that they’ve indicted all the lawyers,” he said. “I’ve never heard of that before in America.

“Now whether you dislike or you like Donald Trump, let me give you a warning they’re going to come for you,” Giuliani said. “When the political winds shift, as they always do, let us pray that Republicans are more honest, trustworthy, and more American than these people in charge of this government.”

Three other former Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro, Ray Smith and Sidney Powell also turned themselves into the Fulton authorities on Wednesday after negotiating bond agreements.

On Wednesday, Chesebro’s lawyers filed a petition for a speedy trial on charges of violating the state’s racketeering act and criminal conspiracy. The charging document against Chesebro alleges that the former Trump campaign lawyer provided an alternate slate of Republican electors with the documents that were intended to be considered as legitimate electoral votes for Trump.

More defendants file into Fulton County jail as Giuliani arrives in Atlanta

Another four defendants have turned themselves into the Fulton County Jail as attention turns to Rudy Giuliani, who is expected to surrender today.

David Shafer’s mugshot in Fulton County, which he posted to X Wednesday morning.

Trump campaign attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Ray Smith were booked and released overnight or early Wednesday, as were former state GOP party chairman David Shafer and former Coffee County GOP chair Cathleen Latham.

Shafer posted his own mugshot to X at 7 a.m. Wednesday and said “Good morning! #NewProfilePic”

Giuliani, who served as former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, did not have a bond agreement as of midday. His private jet reportedly touched down in Atlanta late Wednesday morning.

He told reporters as he left his apartment in New York Wednesday that he is “fighting for justice,” according to the Associated Press.

“I’m feeling very, very good about it because I feel like I am defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney,” Giuliani said.

The focus will shift to Trump Thursday, when he has said he plans to turn himself in, take a booking photo and post a $200,000 bond. The Georgia case represents the former president’s fourth indictment, but this will be the first booking that will produce a mugshot.