Former President Donald Trump surrendered at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Thursday evening and booked on more than a dozen charges stemming from what prosecutors say were efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
He arrived for his booking at 7:30pm, escorted by a Secret Service entourage at least a dozen black cars deep and a motorcade of law enforcement officials after traveling on his private jet from his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Afterward, he made brief – and defiant – remarks.
“If you challenge an election, you should be able to challenge the election. I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election. And I should have every right to do that,” he said before boarding his plane. “What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong.”
Throngs of Trump’s supporters and critics alike gathered early in the morning behind barricades in the parking lot across from the infamous jail ahead of the former president’s arrival, holding signs, shouting from megaphones and waving flags.
Converging with the heavy media presence and tight security, it was all but certainly the media circus Trump had hoped it would be in the wake of the first GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday evening, which the former president chose to sit out, citing his record-setting lead in polling.
Trump and 18 of his closest allies are being charged in a sweeping racketeering scheme, which involved spreading conspiracy theories, pressuring elected officials and propping up fake electors to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia in a desperate effort to remain in power despite having lost the presidency in a free and fair vote.
The charges follow a two-year investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The indictment marks the fourth set of criminal charges against Trump, who now faces a cumulative 91 felony counts in New York state court for hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, in federal court in Florida for mishandling classified documents, in federal court in the District of Columbia for his efforts to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and incite a violent insurrection at the Capitol and now in Georgia.
Sheriff Pat Labat maintained that Trump would be treated like anyone else accused of a crime by a grand jury – and by all accounts he was. The booking process has become somewhat commonplace for Trump, even though it remains unprecedented among former presidents.
But unlike his other surrenders, this one included a photograph – a mugshot that became a part of American history the second the shutter clicked as the first former U.S. president was captured through the lens. The photo is set to be released by the county sheriff’s office on Friday.
Trump, who is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied wrongdoing in all the cases against him and continues to repeat unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged and stolen.” In reality, Trump lost the general election to Biden, and, in Georgia specifically, he lost by some 11,779 votes.
Trump, in his remarks, repeated claims that his indictments are an attempt by Democrats and the so-called “deep state” to undermine his candidacy for president.
“What they're doing is election interference. They're trying to interfere with an election,” he said. “There’s never been anything like it in our country before. This is their way of campaigning.”
The conditions for his release, which were set last week, include a $200,000 bond and strict conditions on his social media use. Among other things, he must not violate any laws in Georgia or elsewhere, he must appear in court as directed, he must not communicate about the facts of the case with fellow co-defendants – except through his legal team – and he must not intimidate co-defendants or witnesses.
Hours before his surrender, Trump replaced one of his leading attorneys, Drew Findling, with Steve Sadow, a widely respected criminal defense lawyer in Atlanta who recently defended a rapper in a racketeering case. Shadow has long criticized Georgia prosecutors for overusing the state’s RICO law.
The sudden change in defense came as a surprise – though not entirely out of character for Trump, who has been burning through attorneys in recent months as his legal challenges mount.
At least 12 of Trump’s 18 co-defendants have surrendered already, including Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, former U.S. acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark and Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, had sought to delay his surrender date until a decision was made on his request to move his charges to federal court and dismiss the indictment altogether. But a federal judge on Wednesday denied him an extension.
The handful of other co-defendants who have yet to surrender have until noon on Friday before Willis issues warrants for their arrests.
Willis initially proposed that the trial begin on March 4 – adding to an already busy legal calendar for Trump heading into the 2024 election. But the former president is seeking to delay the case for as long as possible, including by lengthy pre-trial motions and a petition to move the charges to a federal court. Legal experts say Willis' timeline is likely untenable – though she did file a motion on Thursday to move up the timeline for the trial to Oct. 23 after one of the co-defendants filed a request for a speedy trial.
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B | 8月18日上午，位于邯郸市永年区的沃途紧固件制造有限公司生产车间，机器轰鸣声中，一盘盘优质线材经过拔料、退火、冷墩、剪尾、搓丝等多道生产工序，蜕变成一颗颗钻尾螺丝。库房内，已经打包好的货箱整齐码放，这批订单将发往吉尔吉斯斯坦。“这是今年发展的新客户，目前公司订单中海外市场份额占六成。”沃途公司经理赵博介绍，新客户每年以10%的速度递增，所以新上了一条产线。“吉尔吉斯斯坦的订单要得急，又赶上今年有的国家的订单没有及时提货，导致库存积压，周转资金有些紧张。
C | 刚好7月初农行省分行280万元的‘冀群贷’到期，我又申请了续贷，不到一个星期就办好了。”赵博说。
D | 解了赵博燃眉之急的“冀群贷”，是农行省分行开发的产业集群专属信贷产品。该产品发放对象为产业集群内的小微企业，采用“一项目一方案”形式，制定特色化客户准入方案，大大拓宽了小微企业客户服务覆盖面。贷款期限最长三年，最高额度为1000万元，只要符合标准，到期后还可享受无还本续贷服务，客户无需全额结清本金，省去了拆借过桥资金的成本。“‘冀群贷’办理手续便捷，贷款利率低，非常适合我们这种小微企业。”赵博回忆，他曾经有过一天内还1300万元本金的经历，当时到处找朋友借钱周转，那种压力记忆犹新。
E | 为助力全省107个县域特色产业集群做大做强，省委金融办聚焦产业集群融资难题，去年3月推出“授信服务下基层”活动，引导集群工作基础较好、参与程度较高的金融机构制定“一群一策”专属授信策略，满足集群内企业的差异化融资需求。永年区汇聚了10000余家紧固件生产销售企业，形成特色产业集群。农行永年支行深耕紧固件产业集群多年，经过系统梳理当地企业共性融资堵点，利用农行省分行开发的分行特色信贷产品“冀群贷”“冀时贷”“工商联企贷”“链e融”以及总行的“科技e贷”“微捷贷”“抵押e贷”等产品综合开展产业集群精准服务对接。
F | 与沃途公司一路之隔的固耐安工业股份有限公司，专注高端紧固连接与工程锚固关键零部件自主研发与规模化智造，是国内紧固件细分赛道拥有自主核心技术的民营企业。近年来，固耐安营业收入年均增长30%，产品远销全球100多个国家和地区。“钢材价格波动较大，企业需要在价格下行阶段储备原材料，因此必须保证有充足的流动资金。今年4月，我们申请了2000万元‘科技e贷’授信额度，保障经营周转需求。
G | ”公司财务经理曹加加介绍。作为专精特新“小巨人”企业，固耐安符合“科技e贷”最高档授信条件。“科技e贷”是农业银行面向科技型企业量身打造的信贷专属产品，贷款期限最长可达3年，抵质押模式贷款额度最高3000万元，信用方式贷款额度最高2000万元。农行省分行普惠金融事业部产品经理郜泽龙告诉记者，传统贷款产品要求有抵押物和担保，融资门槛高。
H | “冀群贷”“冀时贷”“科技e贷”等产品则可以将公司流水、订单等数据作为授信依据，贷款流程简单、审批手续快捷，且同样享受无还本续贷政策。开展“授信服务下基层”活动以来，相关金融机构结合自身特色，创新开发出多款针对特色产业集群的专属信贷产品。
I | 其中，既有“宁晋电线电缆贷”“安平丝网贷”“高阳纺织贷”等本地化特色产品，又有依托产业链、供应链上核心企业推出的“订单贷”“应收账款质押贷”等金融产品。产业集群贷，“贷”出新动能。截至目前，相关金融机构共为4万余家集群企业发放贷款超700亿元。精准滴灌降低企业运营成本的同时，极大地激发了产业集群发展活力。（日报记者 马朝丽）。
