First Trump co-defendants booked in Georgia election case

first trump co defendants booked in georgia election case
AFP

The first co-defendants in the election racketeering case facing former president Donald Trump surrendered to the authorities in Georgia on Tuesday.

John Eastman, a former campaign attorney for Trump, and Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, were booked at the Fulton County jail, according to jail records.

Trump is expected to turn himself in at the same jail on Thursday to face charges of seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set bond for the 77-year-old former president at $200,000 on Monday.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and the 18 other co-defendants in the landmark case were given until noon (1600 GMT) on Friday to turn themselves in to the authorities in Georgia.

Eastman, a conservative constitutional law scholar, is accused of drawing up a scheme to submit a false slate of Trump electors to Congress from Georgia instead of the legitimate Biden electors.

Hall is charged with racketeering and conspiracy to commit election fraud in connection with tampering with voting machines.

Eastman’s bond was set at $100,000 and Hall’s at $10,000.

Trump was indicted in Georgia last week on charges of racketeering and a string of election crimes after a sprawling, two-year probe into his efforts to overturn his election defeat to Biden in the Peach State.

Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, has asked the judge to set a trial date of March 4 next year for Trump and the other co-defendants.

Trump is facing four criminal trials as he bids for a return to the White House.

Others facing charges in the alleged Georgia conspiracy include Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

Authored by Afp via Breitbart August 22nd 2023