23 August 2023 , 20:54
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Rudy Giuliani's mugshot has been released after his surrender in the Donald Trump Georgia 2020 election case.
The ex-US President and 18 allies face charges over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. The nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of acts by the group to undo Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden.
Trump, who is running for re-election to the White House next year, is charged with racketeering that carries up to 20 years in prison. This afternoon Fulton County Sheriff’s Office released Rudy Giuliani's mug shot following his surrender earlier today.
In brief comments to reporters after his booking, former New York City mayor Giuliani said he had spoken with Trump today, announcing: "I talked to the president today. I wish him well. I have every confidence in him". He laughed when asked if he regretted allying with Trump.
Giuliani also claimed he was being wrongly prosecuted by District Attorney Fani Willis, adding: "Five other lawyers are indicted. That should tell you right away that this is an assault on our Constitution. Fani Willis will go down in American history as having conducted one of the worst attacks on the American Constitution ever when this case is dismissed."
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Giuliani's surrender and mugshot comes after John Eastman, the conservative attorney who pushed a plan to keep the businessman in power (AFP via Getty Images)Trump's former lawyer said Willis' probe "violated" First Amendment rights, and the right to petition the government for grievances about an election that he said some Americans viewed "as poorly conducted or falsely conducted", reports NBC News.
He added: "I'm feeling very, very good about it because I feel like I am defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney". Giuliani said he is "fighting for justice" and has been since he first started representing Mr Trump.
Mr Giuliani is charged with making false statements and soliciting false testimony, conspiring to create phony paperwork and asking state lawmakers to violate their oath of office to appoint an alternate slate of pro-Trump electors. Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis has said that, if convicted, Mr Giuliani will be sentenced to prison.
Other high-profile defendants also surrendered on Wednesday, including Jenna Ellis, a lawyer who prosecutors say was involved in efforts to convince state lawmakers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors, and lawyer Sidney Powell, accused of making false statements about the election in Georgia and helping to organise a breach of voting equipment in rural Coffee County.
Sidney Powell is accused of making false statements about the election in Georgia and helping to organise a breach of voting equipment in rural Coffee County (CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)It comes a day after John Eastman, the conservative attorney who pushed a plan to keep Trump in power, handed himself in to authorities this week. His appearance came as Trump, whose bond was set on Monday at $200,000 (£157,000), said he will surrender to authorities in Fulton County Jail, in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday. He is expected to have his mugshot taken.
Eastman was booked at the jail and is expected to have an arraignment set in the coming weeks in the sprawling racketeering case. He was indicted last week alongside Trump and 18 others, who are accused by District Attorney Fani Willis of scheming to subvert the will of Georgia voters following Joe Biden's victory over Trump in 2020.
John Eastman, the conservative attorney who pushed a plan to keep the businessman in power, handed himself in to authorities yesterday (AP)She claims they did so in a desperate bid to keep Biden out of the White House. It was the fourth criminal case brought against the Republican former president. Eastman said in a statement provided by his lawyers that he was surrendering “to an indictment that should never have been brought.” He attacked the indictment for targeting “attorneys for their zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients”.
The group are also accused of pressuring Georgia’s secretary of state to find enough votes for him to win the state and a plot to steal data from a voting machine firm. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said: “The indictment alleges rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result.”
(AFP via Getty Images)Donald Trump will reportedly surrender to cops over the racketeering and conspiracy charges at 7pm on Thursday so cable news can capture live footage. It comes after he posted on his Truth Social platform that he would be arrested on Thursday, but the prime-time scheduling was finalised in recent days after his lawyers met with the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis.
Trump is said to be seeking to maximise television ratings to his benefit - and could even extend coverage of the proceedings by speaking in front of cameras and reporters. The strategy to turn surrenders in each of his four criminal cases into spectacles has been an effort to discredit the indictments.
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The Fulton County sheriff, Patrick Labat, has previously said Trump would be treated no differently when he is booked in after his surrender and will have his mugshot taken.