The first two of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants surrendered at the Fulton County jail on Tuesday — while a pair of defendants sought to move their cases to federal court — signs of how the sprawling case will progress in multiple directions this week.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has charged Trump and 18 others of participating in schemes to meddle with Georgia’s election results.
All 19 co-defendants are expected to surrender ahead of a Friday deadline set by Willis when she unveiled last week’s sweeping indictment over attempts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Trump, who agreed to a $200,000 bond on Monday, said he plans to turn himself in on Thursday.
If you are just tuning in, catch up below on the major developments Tuesday:
First defendants surrender: John Eastman, a right-wing lawyer who advised Trump on plots to disrupt Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results, turned himself in Tuesday morning, shortly after Scott Hall, a bail bondsman in Atlanta.
Both Eastman and Hall, who reached bond agreements on Monday, were processed at the Fulton County jail in roughly an hour and released on Tuesday.
Republican state chairman blames Trump: Former Georgia GOP chairman David Shafer, who led the state’s delegation of fake electors, said in a court filing that he and the other fake electors “acted at the direction of the incumbent President and other federal officials.”
Shafer, a longtime member of the Georgia state Senate, played a key role in organizing the Trump campaign’s slate of fake electors in the state. He convened the 16 fake electors in the Georgia state capital in December 2020, where they signed a certificate falsely proclaiming that Trump won the state.
Unlike Trump or some other defendants, however, Shafer has not been part of the federal government. His attorneys say what matters is he was given orders from the top.
Shafer falsely claimed “thousands of people” voted illegally in the state while casting his vote as a fake elector on December 14, 2020, according to a transcript of the secretive closed-door meeting Shafer made public.
Former senior Justice Department official seeks to avoid arrest: Jeffrey Clark, the former Justice Department official indicted after trying to use his federal law enforcement powers to overturn the 2020 election, has asked the judge to let him avoid turning himself in to local authorities.
Clark, in a filing in federal court on Monday, argued that his notice of removal, as well as the notice of removal filed by co-defendant Mark Meadows last week, has the effect of moving the entire state court case — for all 19 co-defendants — to federal court.
Clark says his status as a federal officer when he engaged in the alleged conduct that led to the charges requires the dismissal of the charges against him. He also says the process for removal of civil proceedings applies in the Fulton County case, because of Willis’ use of a special purpose grand jury.
Clark also asked the federal court put an emergency hold on the state court proceedings, “including any attempted issuance or execution of arrest warrants.”
A federal judge has given Willis until mid-afternoon Wednesday to respond.
Read more about the latest developments.
