Donald Trump's mug shot released following his Georgia surrender: live updates

Donald Trump voluntarily surrendered to the Fulton County jail in Georgia for the fourth criminal case brought against him since April. Here's what's happening:

By Emily Olson

That's a wrap for today's coverage, but there's still plenty of ways to stay up-to-date on this story:

🎧 Check out the latest episode of the NPR Politics Podcast.✏️ Find the latest stories on NPR.org.➡️ Tune in to your local NPR member station.

Thanks for joining us!

By Emily Olson

President Biden has mostly stayed quiet when it comes to Trump's legal troubles. After all, Trump and his surrogates have frequently placed the blame for these charges on Biden, accusing him of corruptly directing his Justice Department to conduct these investigations to cover up his own scandals.

Tonight, Biden's reelection campaign broke with that tradition of silence — but in a wink-wink way.

"Apropos of nothing, I think today's a great day to give to my campaign," reads posts shared on social media and emails to donors.

Apropos of nothing, I think today's a great day to give to my campaign. https://t.co/Tj5cURqgQT

By Jaclyn Diaz

The next step in former President Donald Trump's legal saga in Georgia is an expected Sept. 5 arraignment. This is where a defendant formerly presents themselves before a judge and a plea is entered.

It's unclear if Trump will appear for this arraignment.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said her office wants to move quickly in a trial involving all 19 co-defendants in the Georgia election case. However, there have been recent actions to separate these cases.

An Oct. 23 trial date has been set for Kenneth Chesebro, the one-time attorney to former President Donald Trump. Trump's attorney, Steven Sadow, quickly filed an opposition to this proposed schedule on Thursday.

A hearing in the Jan. 6 case is next week

On Monday, at 10 a.m. in the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., attorneys for Trump and federal prosecutors will meet before Judge Tanya Chutkan for a pre-trial hearing regarding potential trial timing. Also on the agenda are proposed protective orders surrounding classified information that may come up in evidence in the case.

By Jaclyn Diaz

During an interview with Newsmax's Greg Kelly Reports, Trump used the conservative news channel as a larger platform for his frequent attacks on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Justice Department.

He repeated claims that prosecutors are part of the "radical left."

During the interview with Kelly, a Trump supporter who called his mug shot "illustrious," offered the former president several minutes to wax on about a series of topics.

On his booking in Fulton County Jail: Trump said he was treated "very nicely" and repeated his earlier comments that his booking was a "sad day in America."

On his co-defendants in the Georgia case: Trump said his former attorney and ally Rudy Giuliani is a "tough guy" — but as for many of his other co-defendants in the Fulton County case, Trump claimed he hadn't met many of them. Many of the 18 individuals facing charges in this case were known to have worked closely with Trump during the 2020 campaign and in efforts to overturn election results.

On the first Republican debate on Wednesday night: Trump, of course, skipped the first debate with his GOP primary opponents. Kelly asked Trump if he saw any potential vice president candidates on the stage. Trump offered that he was impressed by Vivek Ramaswamy, a former tech CEO.

By Emily Olson

The former president is back on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. His first post since 2021 is identical to the one he posted on his own social media site, Truth Social.

"NEVER SURRENDER," reads the caption on the mug shot taken during his voluntarily surrender to the Fulton County Jail.

https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY

The fact that Trump chose this moment to reemerge on the platform is striking. Trump, then the President, was banned in 2021, shortly after his supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol.

The company (then Twitter) said Trump violated company rules by tweeting a deluge of misinformation on the 2020 presidential election results. His last tweet was "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th."

Now Trump is facing state and federal charges connected to those same claims. And he's trying to frame those charges as interference in his own attempt to be reelected.

By Emily Olson

In his second post following his voluntarily surrender, Trump posted his own mugshot alongside the date, his website and the words, "ELECTION INTERFERENCE / NEVER SURRENDER!"

Notably and without explanation, Trump removed the Sheriff's seal from the corner of the photo.

The phrase "NEVER SURRENDER" also appears on the landing page for his website alongside a request for donations in order to "SAVE AMERICA from this dark chapter in our nation's history."

By Emily Olson

A booking report from Fulton County Jail shows former President Donald Trump was placed under arrest and released on Thursday night.

Ahead of the surrender, he agreed to pay a $200,000 in bond for 13 charges.

He was assigned the inmate number P01135809 and is described in the report as a "white male" with "blond or strawberry" hair and blue eyes. He's listed as standing 6'3" and weighing 215 lbs.

It's unclear whether this data was self-reported, but some on social media have pointed out that the height and weight listed are practically the same dimensions as Lamar Jackson, the quarterback for the Ravens (6'2" 215 lbs.).

Trump weighed in at 243 pounds during a presidential physical in 2019. His doctor said then he was overall in "very good health," but was technically obese.

By Jaclyn Diaz

An Oct. 23 trial date has been set for Kenneth Chesebro, the one-time attorney to former President Donald Trump, in the Fulton County case that alleges a coordinated effort to change the outcome of the 2020 election.

Chesebro is facing racketeering charges for his alleged role. He requested a speedy trial to be granted under state law, according to court documents.

And on Thursday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked the judge, Scott McAfee, to set that Oct. 23 trial for all of the 19 defendants on that date. But McAfee indicated he'd only speed up the trial timeline “at this time” for Chesebro.

Trump's new attorney, Steven Sadow, filed an opposition to this proposed schedule.

Sadow wrote, "President Trump also alerts the Court that he will be filing a timely motion to sever his case from that of co-defendant Chesebro, who has filed a demand for speedy trial, or any other co-defendant who files such a demand."

Separating the case for Chesebro would be a potentially beneficial move for him, according to Anthony Michael Kreis, an assistant professor of law at Georgia State University.

Chesebro is one of the defendants with the "fewest fingerprints" on any allegations tied to wrongdoing in Georgia and had a smaller alleged role according to the indictment, Kreis told NPR.

On the other hand, Kreis said, "The downside of that is he's standing alone, and he's not a household name in the same way Donald Trump is. And so there might be some advantage to trying to be tried with Donald Trump or Rudy Giuliani in the hopes that you get a juror or two" who may be resistant to convicting those bigger names.

Kreis believes it's likely other co-defendants will try to peel off and get a separate trial.

At least three other defendants, Mark Meadows, Jeff Clark and David Shafer, are already looking to move their cases to federal court, according to reports.

Kreis said, "I don't think any of these actors really want to be part of the same episode. I think most of them will want to stand on their own. That will allow them, I suspect, to blame others and to attempt to shoulder responsibility to third parties."

By Emily Olson

The Trump campaign released a fake mug shot to sell merchandise after the candidate's first indictment, but this is the first real, actual, official mug shot for Trump, who's facing four criminal cases in total. (Beware: We've seen plenty of fake ones circling on social media.)

➡️ Does the mug shot really matter? Read more about why it's likely to go down in the history books — and galvanize Trump's supporters.

By Emily Olson

The former president stopped briefly on the tarmac to speak with reporters.

"This is a very sad day for America. This should never happen," he began. "You should be able to challenge an election."

He continued on to say, falsely, that the election was rigged against him and this latest indictment was another case of election interference. In voting to indict Trump, a Georgia grand jury believed there was enough evidence to suggest his actions in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential results violated state laws, including racketeering charges.

"What has taken place here is a travesty of justice," Trump said of those charges. "We did nothing wrong; I did nothing wrong."

Trump then boarded his private plane to head back to his golf club in New Jersey. His whole visit to Atlanta took just a little over an hour.

By Jaclyn Diaz

Former President Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants are facing a number of felony charges in Georgia for what prosecutors allege was a broad conspiracy to attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

So, what is this case built on?

Trump and his allies are facing charges normally reserved for the mob.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is relying on a particular aspect of Georgia state law: The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute.

This gives prosecutors the ability to pursue criminal enterprises. It's based on the federal RICO law created in 1970, but it is broader.

Prosecutors say Trump's 'over acts' promoted the conspiracy.

The prosecutors claim that the 19 defendants committed a total of more than 160 individual "overt acts" to further their plan to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Those actions include tweets and speeches made by Trump and others, phone calls and meetings.

Trump, his supporters and other co-defendants like John Eastman have already claimed these charges are part of an effort to criminalize political speech.

But the prosecutors aren't saying actions like tweets are criminal.

Overt acts "can be anything that is done that's for the purpose of advancing the goals of the conspiracy" but they don't have to be necessarily criminal themselves, Morgan Cloud, the Charles Howard Candler professor of law at Emory University, previously told NPR.

By Jaclyn Diaz

Former President Donald Trump was in and out of Atlanta's Fulton County Jail in a little over 20 minutes.

However, most people who are booked in Fulton County don't get such a luxury, according to Erin King, an Atlanta criminal defense attorney with the law firm Peters, Rubin, Sheffield & Hodges. King spoke toNPR during live special coverage.

“All basic human rights are ignored there," King said of the problems at the jail. And most of the inmates at the jail were booked, are not yet convicted for crimes and are awaiting trial, she said.

Inmates have to live in filthy conditions, are denied proper medical care and food, when given, is poor quality, King said.

In July, the Justice Department launched a federal civil rights investigation into the potentially "structurally unsafe" facility where Lashawn Thompson, 35, died last September in a bedbug-infested cell in the jail's psychiatric wing.

The sheriff's office has described it as "dilapidated and rapidly eroding."

By Emily Olson

Live shots of the Fulton County jail show a bevy of black SUVs, police motorcycles and media helicopters leaving the premises.

Trump has officially been booked, per court records accessed by Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Stephen Fowler.

By Sam Gringlas, WABE

For most of the case's 19 defendants, bond terms will have been negotiated in advance, so they won't have to spend long in jail awaiting a hearing, says Bob Rubin, a criminal defense attorney in Decatur, Ga.

On Monday, a judge signed off on an agreement between prosecutors and Trump's lawyers to set bond at $200,000.

Rubin says bond conditions consider factors like a defendant's flight risk, danger to the community and likelihood of intimidating witnesses or committing another felony.

Trump's bond agreement requires that he refrain from intimidating codefendants or witnesses, including through social media. And he is not allowed to communicate with any codefendants about the facts of the case, except through his lawyer.

By Jaclyn Diaz

Former President Donald Trump has arrived in Atlanta to surrender on 13 charges that he was part of an illegal conspiracy to change the 2020 election results in Georgia.

When Trump arrives at the Fulton County Jail, it is expected that he will have to take a mug shot. This would be a first for a former American president.

Trump has taken to social media in the hours leading up to his arrival and said earlier Thursday that he believed it was a "SAD DAY IN AMERICA!"

By Emily Olson

There's no denying this moment is historic. A former president is about to turn himself in on charges alleging he tried to overturn state election results — and this is just one of two cases that accuse him of election subversion. And it's one of four cases against him in total.

And yet Donald Trump is still clearly the front-runner for the GOP presidential primary nomination. It's very hard to imagine that a few minutes in jail or even a mug shot could change that.

In case his overwhelming lead in the polls, in fundraising and in the news cycle have left any room for doubt, consider what happened during last night's first GOP primary debate.

When prompted by a moderator, six of the eight candidates said they would still support Trump if he was selected as the presidential nominee but also convicted. Not even Trump's competitors are viewing possible imprisonment as a reason to turn against him.

By Rachel Treisman

Trump may wind up being the first president to pose for a mug shot — but he's far from the first politician to do so.

Eric Columbus, a D.C.-based lawyer with a large X (formerly Twitter) following and ties to many Democratic officials, shared a thread of several elected officials' mugshots with his own commentary.

Here are some of them:

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican who was indicted on money-laundering charges in 2005 (his 2010 conviction was overturned on appeal in 2013).

Former senator and vice presidential nominee John Edwards was indicted by a North Carolina jury on federal charges in 2011 for using campaign funds to cover up an extramarital affair he had while seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards also smiled, but there's something smarmy about the smile (or maybe just about Edwards himself). 2/ pic.twitter.com/0jsiS234pQ

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry was indicted in 2014 on two felony counts of abuse of power. The charges were dismissed in 2016, a year after his brief bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was indicted in 2009 on charges he engaged in a "wide-ranging scheme to deprive the people of Illinois of honest government." He was later sentenced to 14 years for corruption, including trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat. Trump commuted his sentence in 2020.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich didn’t look as pleased to be booked, but he kept it together. 4/ pic.twitter.com/J6J0SealYM

Former Wyoming Sen. Larry Craig was arrested in 2007 in a Minnesota airport bathroom on suspicion of lewd conduct. He pled guilty to disorderly conduct, and the Federal Elections Commission later sued him for using campaign money for his legal defense.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was indicted in 2008 for failing to properly report gifts. He was found guilty and lost his bid for reelection. The following year, an FBI agent alleged that federal agent had withheld exculpatory evidence, prompting a special investigation and ultimately leading to Stevens' exoneration. Stevens died in a plane crash in 2010.

I can’t read Alaska Senator Ted Stevens’ expression. A bit resigned, maybe? But in real life he was anything but. 6/ pic.twitter.com/CvvQ8VT5dv

By Jaclyn Diaz

Former President Donald Trump will speak with Newsmax tonight at 9 p.m. ET after his booking in Fulton County this evening.

In a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, the news channel shared Trump will speak on Greg Kelly Reports.

TRUMP TONIGHT: 45th President Donald Trump speaks out following his booking in Georgia on "Greg Kelly Reports," at special start time 9PM ET on NEWSMAX.WATCH: https://t.co/6ERkL1aKzo pic.twitter.com/PxJqlUJzGV

By Sam Gringlas, WABE

In Fulton County, a booking appearance is separate from an arraignment, a later day on which a defendant issues a plea on their charges.

The arraignment date depends on the court calendar. Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, is asking a judge to schedule a March 4 trial date in the criminal case against Trump and 18 others.

That proposed scheduling order would have arraignments take place the week of Sept. 5 with a trial to begin six months later, the week before Georgia's 2024 Republican presidential primary.

McAfee, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and has been on the bench since February, will have to juggle scheduling around 19 defendants and their lawyers, as well as proceedings in the three other criminal cases Trump is facing.

McAfee also has to find time on his own calendar, and Fulton County already has a sizable case backlog.

"I just think, practically speaking, that's not going to happen," says Jeffrey Brickman, a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta.

"This is not a discussion about people trying to play the system and delay just for the purposes of delay," Brickman says. "It simply takes a long time, and I just think that [Willis' timeline] is wishful thinking."

Other factors may slow down the case, like protracted jury selection and efforts by Trump and others to move the case out of Fulton Superior Court and into federal court.

By Rachel Treisman

Trump disparaged Atlanta in a post on Truth Social this afternoon, blaming "failed" District Attorney Fani Willis for not doing enough about crime in the city.

"Why is there so much MURDER in Atlanta? Why is there so much Violent Crime? People are afraid to go outside to buy a loaf of bread!" he posted around 4:30 p.m., on his way from New Jersey to Georgia.

Trump said "one big reason" is that Willis "doesn’t have the Time, Money, or Interest to go after the real criminals, even the REALLY Violent ones, that are destroying Atlanta, and its once beautiful culture and way of life."

Trump's comments echo those he made after traveling to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to be booked on federal charges related to election interference.

“It was also very sad driving through Washington, D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti,” he said. “This is not the place that I left. It’s a very sad thing to see it.”

NPR's Ron Elving said at the time that those comments are a "good illustration of the way Trump extends his version of reality and tries to impose it on the real world."

For one, he noted, Trump did not go on a drive around the city — more like just a few blocks — and he may have been describing a scene that existed many years ago. Just about all that's changed in the last two years, Elving added, is that Trump's name has come off his former hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue.

"He does have a tendency to describe what he sees in his mind's eye that fits his preferred view of reality," Elving said. "And he does it in the belief that relatively few will have the information to challenge him. Millions will accept it because they believe in him and prefer the world as he describes it, his version of events and realities. That's what makes him powerful."

In the days since Trump's indictment, the former president has painted a picture of Atlanta as unsafe and on the decline in multiple posts.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution fact-checked those claims, citing Atlanta Police Department data showing that violent crime is down more than 20% compared to this time last year, with motor vehicle theft and theft from vehicles being the only areas of increase.

The 2022 annual report from the City of Atlanta Police Department shows violent crime decreased 9% from 2021 to 2022, while property crime increased just 1%, the newspaper added. And it reported last month that homicides were down across Atlanta for the first time in four years.

"Law and order" was a big talking point for Trump during his presidency — a phrase that takes on new irony now that he's been indicted in four criminal cases totaling 91 charges.

By Emily Olson

The former president is airborne, according to live shots of the Newark Airport in New Jersey and tweets from his staff ("On the way to HOTLANTA," posted spokesman Steven Cheung.)

The flight is expected to take about two hours. In a Truth Social post earlier today, Trump said he expected to be booked around 7:30 p.m. ET.

The processing should be quick: Trump has already agreed to a $200,000 bond and other release conditions, including limits on what he can post to social media.

By Rachel Treisman

Crowds have been forming outside the Fulton County Jail today ahead of Trump's surrender. And among the people with signs, t-shirts and banners -- supporting and blasting the former president -- there's a group of rats.

Yes, videos posted to social media show protesters dressed in rat suits, carrying signs with the name of their group: Republicans Against Trump.

The leader of the rat crew is Domenic Santana, who has been dressing up in a striped inmate outfit to protest Trump at the site of all of his criminal bookings so far.

The rats' signs link to a website that appears to be under construction. And while we don't know much more about them at the moment, we know they're not the only ones having a Rat Girl Summer.

Folks wearing rat costumes (Republicans Against Trump) walk through a crowd of Trump supporters/ journalists pic.twitter.com/XZ8M4Llc7y

By Emily Olson

One of the 19 defendants, pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro, will start his trial on Oct. 23, according to a new court filing.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled in Chesebro's favor after the defendant requested a speedy trial yesterday, citing his right as a criminal defendant. McAfee also set Chesebro's arraignment for Sept. 6.

Chesebro's request to move the date up is at odds with what Trump's attorneys are asking for.

Earlier today, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis responded to Chesebro's request for a speedy trial by suggesting October for the start date — but for all 19 defendants, not just Chesebro.

Trump's lawyers responded with a filing of their own, saying they opposed moving the trial up from its original target start date in March 2024. And separately, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is trying to remove his trial to federal court.

Though the latest filing moves up the start date of Chesebro's trial, it's still unclear whether it effectively severs his case from the other 18 codefendants — and whether that means other codefendants could successfully follow suit.

By Carrie Johnson

Former President Donald Trump is testing the tolerance of the judiciary, and perhaps even his own legal team, with belligerent messages about prosecutors, witnesses and judges involved in the criminal cases against him.

Trump already has disparaged former Vice President Mike Pence, who could be a key witness against him in a federal election interference trial, and urged former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan not to testify before a grand jury in Fulton County, Ga.

"If you go after me, I'm coming after you," Trump posted on social media, a day after his arraignment in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

Trump announced, then postponed, a news conference at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., to blast the latest charges, 13 counts including racketeering filed by a district attorney in Georgia, after multiple news organizations reported his lawyers were leery of such a move.

But lawyers familiar with Trump's rhetoric said they expect the former president to wade into commentary, and personal attacks, on people involved in bringing him to justice across four separate criminal indictments in four different jurisdictions.

Judges overseeing the cases against Trump may have an array of tools at their disposal to try to keep him in check: from warnings, to a gag order, to fines, to even short periods of incarceration. But bringing those tools to bear against a former president, who is running again, could prove to be sensitive and consequential.

➡️ Read the full story on how judges are responding to Trump's rhetoric.

By Emily Olson

It's not every day that a former president gets booked into a county jail. One Atlanta club is using the occasion as an excuse to party.

The bash, hosted by Suite Lounge, has been dubbed "Welcome to Rice St." in reference to the jail's location (about 3 miles away from the club, for those wondering). It'll feature food specials, free hookah for ladies and $200 bottle service.

A post shared by Suite Food Lounge (@suiteloungeatl)

Suite Lounge posted the invite on Instagram, and it appears to be a bit of a departure, tonally speaking, from the club's previous advertisements for Taco Tuesday and karaoke night.

The post features an illustration of Trump in an orange jumpsuit looking forlorn in a jail cell while the song "Block Lockdown" by Ludacris blasts in the background (lyrics: "Welcome to Atlanta where the players play [...] big beats, big streets, see gangsters roamin' / and the party don't stop till 8 in the mornin'.")

The promo has received over 2,700 likes as of Tuesday afternoon, though it's unclear if that'll translate into actual attendance. It might be a better measure of how some Atlantans feel about the reason for Trump's visit to the city. One Instagram user summed up the feeling with the comment, "On today's episode of: 'Atlanta is not a real place.' "

By Rachel Treisman

The Georgia judge overseeing Trump's case will allow cameras in the courtroom for defendants' arraignments, making it the first of Trump's criminal proceedings to be televised.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee approved a request on Tuesday from four local TV stations asking to record both sound and images between August 23 and September 8.

It's not clear when the arraignments will take place, but Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed the week of September 5.

An arraignment is an initial appearance in front of a judge, where defendants hear the charges against them and enter a plea. In Trump's three previous criminal cases, his booking and arraignment have happened on the same day — but that's not the case today.

In Georgia, state courts typically allow cameras to broadcast proceedings, which is unlikely to happen with Trump's federal cases in Florida and Washington, D.C. Still photographers were allowed to take pictures in the Manhattan courtroom before Trump was arraigned in the hush money case in April.

By Sam Gringlas, WABE

The Fulton County Jail, also known as the Rice Street Jail, is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for potential civil rights violations.

Seven people have died in custody there since the start of this year.

Pat Labat, the Fulton County sheriff, has pledged to cooperate with the federal investigation and says it reinforces his calls for a new jail.

"I have publicly, privately and repeatedly raised concerns about the dangerous overcrowding, dilapidated infrastructure and critical staffing shortages of the jail," he said in July.

This month, the county reached a settlement with the family of 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson, who died in the jail's psychiatric wing last year and was found covered in bedbugs. An independent autopsy commissioned by the family found he died from neglect.

"It is Third World in many parts of the Fulton County Jail," says Bob Rubin, a Georgia-based criminal defense attorney who has two clients who have been detained in the jail for more than two years awaiting trial.

"They have no opportunities to go outside. There's no sunlight. There's no yard," Rubin says. "The jail is cold. The jail is smelly, as you can imagine. There's water issues. There's space issues. There's dangerous people in the jail.

Eighty-seven percent of the jail population is Black and the vast majority have not been convicted, according to the Justice Department.

Most are waiting for bail hearings or competency evaluations or are denied release awaiting trial because they cannot post bail. And a third of individuals in the jail likely have mental health issues.

🎧 Hear more on today's Morning Edition.

By Emily Olson

According to cable news footage, the former president has departed his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., and is heading toward the airport, where he'll board a plane headed for Atlanta.

As a quick reminder for anyone just joining us: Trump is expected to turn himself in to the Fulton County Jail around 7:30 p.m. ET for booking and processing. He'll have his mug shot taken and is likely to pay bond of $200,000.

Trump is facing 13 state felony charges and was one of 19 codefendants indicted earlier this month following a sweeping state investigation into alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

By Rachel Treisman

People are beginning to gather outside the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, where Trump is expected to turn himself in later today.

Member station WABE shares these photos from the scene:

More from the scene at the Fulton County Jail this afternoon as detractors and supporters of former President Trump gather ahead of his expected surrender. #gapol pic.twitter.com/v5uCdG0DgJ

By Emily Olson

The former president's legal team is requesting a scheduling conference to discuss the start date for the trial, according to a new court filing.

Earlier today, lawyers for the Fulton County District Attorney's office filed a motion to move the trial date to Oct. 23 — months earlier than the date they originally requested, March 2024. Trump's team is opposed to that move.

The document filed with the Fulton County Superior Court also notes that Trump plans to ask to sever his case from codefendant Kenneth Chesebro, who sparked this back-and-forth by filing a motion demanding a speedy trial.

Ultimately, a judge will weigh the various proposals and decide the trial date.

By Rachel Treisman

Harrison Floyd — also known as Willie Lewis Floyd III — the former director of a group called Black Voices for Trump, turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail today.

No bond agreement has been filed, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He remains in custody at the jail.

Booking photo for Harrison Floyd. @ajc He is the only defendant that doesn’t have a bond. pic.twitter.com/gmBj3eabl1

Floyd is accused of conspiracy to solicit false statements and influencing witnesses for his alleged role in a plot to intimidate Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman.

He arranged — and participated by phone in — a meeting between Freeman and Trevian Kutti, another one of the codefendants (and formerly a publicist for artists like Ye and R. Kelly), Reuters reports. At that meeting, Kutti allegedly pressured Freeman to falsely admit to committing election fraud or else go to jail.

Floyd was charged in May with assaulting the FBI agent who served him a subpoena to testify in front of a Washington, D.C., grand jury in the parallel special counsel investigation into 2020 election interference, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

The affidavit accuses Floyd, 39, of "body-slamming" an agent and harassing another when they arrived at his Maryland home to serve him the subpoena in February.

"WHO THE F--- DO YOU THINK YOU ARE,” Floyd allegedly screamed, standing “chest to chest” with an agent after knocking him backward with his body, the Post reports.

Floyd's arrest could complicate any bail agreement in Fulton County, it adds.

By Rachel Treisman

Trump says he will arrive at the Fulton County Jail for booking at 7:30 p.m. local time.

The former president posted on Truth Social around 2:30 p.m. ET to update his followers on the plan for what he's referring to as his arrest — and throw a few jabs at the Fulton County district attorney in the process.

"I have to start getting ready to head down to Atlanta, Georgia, where Murder and other Violent Crimes have reached levels never seen before, to get ARRESTED by a Radical Left, Lowlife District Attorney, Fani Willis, for A PERFECT PHONE CALL, and having the audacity to challenge a RIGGED & STOLEN ELECTION," he wrote. "THE EVIDENCE IS IRREFUTABLE!"

Trump has long referred to his infamous Jan. 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — in which Trump asked him to "find" the 11,780 votes he needed to win the state — as "perfect." One of the charges Trump faces in Georgia, solicitation of a violation of an oath by a public officer, is related to that call.

By Sam Gringlas, WABE

One defendant, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, has already filed a motion to remove his case to federal court. Trump is expected to do the same.

That's because a provision in federal law allows federal officers to remove some criminal prosecutions brought by states to the federal court system.

Experts say such a move would gain defendants a more conservative jury pool and possibly delay a trial.

Jonathan Nash, a law professor at Emory University, says this mechanism dates to the early 19th century, when resentment against the federal government over taxation and the War of 1812 led to an onslaught of lawsuits and prosecutions against federal officials carrying out their duties.

"The concern was that if states are allowed to bring [these] criminal prosecutions, that it can really just interfere with federal officials' being able to do their jobs," he said.

Nash says precedent has established three basic requirements for removal to federal court: The defendant must have been a federal officer, be facing prosecution for conduct under the "color of office," and have a legal defense that relies on federal law in some fashion.

"It certainly has some merit, I'll put it that way," Nash says of Meadows' motion to remove the case. "I don't see it as any kind of frivolous filing. He makes arguments that make some sense."

If these motions are successful, the Fulton County district attorney's office would still prosecute the case and state laws would still be at issue, but a federal judge would preside.

That may end up being U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, who has set an Aug. 28 hearing on Meadows' motion.

The jury would come not just from Fulton County, but the 10-county Atlanta Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, which encompasses some exurban counties that lean more Republican than Fulton County.

Any convictions would not be subject to presidential pardon — only the review of Georgia's independent review board, which can consider pardons five years after the completion of a sentence.

By Rachel Treisman

NPR's Washington Desk

The list of co-defendants who have turned themselves in just grew to 10.

Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, surrendered to authorities in Fulton County this afternoon — just hours before his former boss is expected to do the same.

Meadows is charged with violating the state's RICO Act and soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer. He agreed to a $100,000 bond earlier today, the Hill reports.

Jail authorities could release his mug shot around 4 p.m. ET today.

Meadows was on the infamous call — detailed in the indictment — in which Trump urged state election officials to find the votes he'd need to win.

Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman, also traveled to Georgia at one point to try and gain access to a state audit of absentee ballot envelopes.

He's sought to move the case to federal court. Federal law allows federal officers to remove some criminal prosecutions brought by states to the federal court system.

If Meadows' effort is successful, the Fulton County district attorney's office would still prosecute the case and state laws would still be at issue, but a federal judge would preside and the jury would come from a broader geographical area in Georgia.

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Donald Trump's mug shot released following his Georgia surrender: live updates