Former President Trump and his 18 co-defendants have until noon on Friday, Aug. 25 to report to the Fulton County jail. Talks between Trump’s legal team and Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis’ office are happening. The subject of discussion is how Trump can best surrender himself at the jail for processing. He and his co-defendants will all be subjected to fingerprinting and mug shots, just like any other person.
The media is salivating over the upcoming mug shot. Rest assured, it will be plastered all over social media within minutes of it being taken. A mugshot of a former president is something unimaginable to most Americans. However, Trump can’t just show up and be processed like any other person, so some accommodations have to be hashed out in advance.
Secret Service has been on site for a couple of weeks. Bright orange barricades are up in front of the area. Local law enforcement has been alerted to be prepared for whatever may happen if anything. Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said all 19 defendants can turn themselves in at any time. The jail is open 24/7. As of Friday evening, none of them had turned themselves in.
Lawyers for a few of the defendants tell 11Alive they are working with the DA’s office to negotiate the terms of the consent bond. That’s when defendants go through the booking process while bond paperwork is getting processed, allowing them to get in and out of jail very quickly.
Prosecutors hope to schedule arraignments the week of Sept. 5. However, some defendants could appear in federal court before then. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is eyeing a March trial date.
Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows requested his case be tried in federal court instead of in Fulton County. A hearing is scheduled for August 28. His attorneys said on Friday that another defendant plans to also make that request. The judge was asked to keep that date, regardless of whether or not others joined.
Trump is expected to turn himself in on Thursday or Friday next week. So far, Trump has said he will not participate in the RNC debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday, August 23. It is being reported that he will do an online interview with Tucker Carlson as a competing event.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told WISN 12 News in Milwaukee that as of Friday, Trump has not given her his final decision on participating in the debate. She allegedly has given him a Monday evening deadline to deliver his decision for Wednesday’s debate. She expects him to keep the RNC waiting until Monday night.
This is what he did in 2015. He set his terms and expected the RNC to accommodate him. And, the RNC’s loyalty pledge was proven to be useless because both Jeb! Bush and Lindsey Graham signed the pledge and then didn’t endorse Trump when he became the nominee. If the candidates don’t keep their word, it is meaningless. Trump did sign the pledge in the 2016 election.
Trump is an entertainer and he will keep the drama around him going as long as possible. Undoubtedly, he is being relentlessly persecuted by Democrat activists posing as district attorneys and special counsels. Everyone sees what is going on – the goal is to keep Trump out of the White House. There are even some Democrats who publicly say Trump is being treated as no other president has been treated. This is not to say Trump hasn’t done things wrong, because he has. Both things can be true, though. He is being persecuted and he has brought some of it on himself.
So, we are here. The Secret Service is working with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department and the city of Atlanta to plan for Trump’s surrender. It is insane that Trump is being fingerprinted and having a mugshot taken. Trump is one of the most well-known people in the world. A mugshot is to identify a criminal. Trump is easily identifiable to most people. Law enforcement would not have a problem identifying him if needed.
Georgia Governor Kemp said that Trump was indicted because Democrats want to focus on Trump’s actions after the 2020 election instead of Joe Biden’s dismal record in office. He asks party voters to focus on the future and current events instead of dwelling on 2020 and what happened three years ago. And, he doesn’t think Trump’s trial in Georgia will happen before the 2024 election.
“One thing is certain about these indictments, in my mind, in my opinion – this trial, despite what dates anybody’s asking for anything else, it is not gonna happen before the election,” Kemp said, referencing Fulton DA Fani Willis’ formal request for a March trial start. “And the Democrats want us to be focused on things like this so we’re not focused on Joe Biden’s record.”
Kemp was speaking at “The Gathering” event, hosted by conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson. His estimate that the trial would not begin next year tracks with what experts have previously told 11Alive.
Melissa Redmon, a University of Georgia Law professor and former Fulton County prosecutor, explained the potential complications of this stage of things to 11Alive last month.
“You’ll see the pretrial motions to dismiss, and attorneys stating why the case should be dismissed, so those should be the initial motions and then if the case survives, then motions on what type of evidence is admissible or should be excluded, so then those get litigated,” she said. “All that would happen before you actually get to scheduling when the trial would occur.”
This is where we are now. The next step is for Trump to turn himself in at the county jail. Look for that on Friday at 11:30 a.m. That would be my guess. He’ll wait as long as possible – who would blame him?
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