It’s one of those historical sequences that has the country in suspense: Donald Trump arrived at a jail in Atlanta on Thursday to face authorities in the US state of Georgia, who have accused him of trying to block the 2020 presidential election manipulate.
• Also read: Particularly unsanitary prison: The secret service will protect Trump during his stay in prison
• Also read: Trump replaces his lawyer hours before he turns himself in to authorities
• Also read: Trump jailed in Georgia… without staying there
After escaping his three previous criminal charges, this time the billionaire risks not to omit the infamous “mug shot” ritual, a first for a former American president.
“Another sad day in America,” Donald Trump had denounced shortly before his departure to this state bordering Florida on his platform Truth Social.
However, the passage of the ex-Chairman, Republican primary favorite for the 2024 presidential election, through Fulton County Jail is likely to be brief.
Like 10 of the 11 defendants in this case, barring unforeseen circumstances, Donald Trump will be released on bail, which has been set at $200,000.
He had been preceded by several of his 18 co-defendants in recent days at this crowded and notoriously unsanitary venue, which was watched by the world’s media.
Mark Meadows AFP
All were charged on August 14 with unlawful attempts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election won by current Democratic President Joe Biden in this key state.
Those who have already pushed open the jail’s door, like former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, saw her passage immortalized and her “mug shot” circulating on a loop on TV and social media. Current regulations also provide for the measurement and weighing of fingerprints.
Ahead of his arrival, Mr Trump officially changed the head of his Georgia legal team on Thursday. No explanation was given for the replacement of Drew Findling with Steven Sadow, a tenor from the Atlanta Bar who is accustomed to defending celebrities.
But Steven Sadow has in the past criticized the Organized Crime Act, which prosecutors use to charge the 19 suspects together and carry sentences of between five and 20 years in prison.
The suspects have until Friday afternoon to turn themselves in to authorities.
They are expected to return to Atlanta the week of September 5, this time in court, presumably to announce whether or not they will plead guilty.
Getty Images via AFP
Legal backlash is piling up for the former reality TV star, who faces criminal charges for the fourth time in less than six months.
The seventy-year-old is accused of making suspicious payments to a former actress from X-movies in New York, of pressure to vote in the 2020 presidential election by the federal judiciary and of negligent handling of confidential documents.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to all of these counts.
But that’s the whole paradox: every turn of events also nets him millions in campaign donations from Trumpists who believe he’s the victim of a “witch hunt” organized by the Biden administration to get out of the presidential election was staged.
The American president, a candidate for re-election, is careful not to comment on Donald Trump’s legal problems so as not to fuel his allegations of instrumentalization of the judiciary.
This passage from Mr. Trump in Georgia is an example of the hilarious campaign starring the former reality TV star. It comes the day after the first major presidential meeting of 2024, the Republican primary debate, which took place in Wisconsin.
The former real estate tycoon felt disqualified due to his spectacular lead over his peers in the polls, preferring to speak in a River interview with Tucker Carlson, the conservative station’s former star presenter. Fox News, aired on X (ex-Twitter) simultaneously.