Former US President Donald Trump has been released on bail. After a settlement between the prosecution and Trump’s lawyers, the judge responsible for the election interference case in the state of Georgia has ordered bail of 200,000 dollars (about 184,000 euros) for the defendant. It also orders the former president not to break the law and refrain from intimidating or pressuring witnesses in the case.
The $200,000 bail is equal to the sum of bail for each of the crimes he is charged with. The principal amount of $80,000 will go to the alleged organized crime statute violator. Bail of $10,000 each is required for the other 12 alleged felonies. The Georgia case is the fourth indictment against the president this year, but none of the previous ones have had bail.
Trump was indicted on Aug. 14 for his attempts to reverse the Georgia election result in the 2020 presidential election, in which he lost to Joe Biden. The former president and the other 18 defendants have until Friday to face charges. Trump is expected to be present on Thursday or Friday. It will be the moment when Trump has to contribute the money and when he will be released strictly on bail. In practice, the law provides for the possibility of depositing only 10% of the fixed amount.
Obviously, that number is insignificant to Trump, who has spent tens of millions of dollars in political donations on lawyers. The question is more of a moral nature, since one has to be released on bail like any other accused of serious crimes. Despite this, Trump’s attorneys have agreed to bail and avoided a bail-setting hearing.
In addition, the court order places further restrictions on Trump: “The defendant will take no action to intimidate any person known to be a co-defendant or witness in this case or otherwise obstruct the administration of justice,” it said. This expressly includes the ban on threatening the other 18 co-defendants, witnesses, victims or the community directly or indirectly.
In addition, the judge bans Trump’s activities on social media where he has been particularly aggressive, because those terms extend to posting on social media or reposting someone else’s post on those media.
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Trump will also not be able to communicate with any of the other defendants about the facts under his investigation unless through his attorneys.
The judge also this Monday set bail for three former Trump attorneys charged in the case. It was $100,000 combined for John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro and $50,000 for Ray Smith.
Additionally, Trump’s charges against Georgia’s organized crime statute include conspiring to impersonate a public official, pressuring an official to break his oath of office, and conspiring to use false documents, among other charges to submit and to submit counterfeits.
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