Former US president Donald Trump announced on Monday, that he plans to surrender in Atlanta on Thursday, in connection with the indictment in Georgia over the charges that he sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in the state. "I'll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED” he wrote in his Truth Social platform. Trump, who is running for reelection in 2024, described the indictment as a politically motivated effort to sabotage his reelection campaign, according to Reuters.
Trump planned to turn himself in at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on Thursday, the date was set during negotiations between his lawyers and the Fulton County district attorney's office on Monday over Trump’s bond and release conditions. His bond was set at $200,000 and orders have been given to not send threatening social media messages as he awaits his trial.
Willis gave them until Friday at noon ET (1600 GMT) to surrender or face arrest. Security will be tightened around the jail when Trump surrenders, the local sheriff's office said.
The 98-page indictment revealed last week that Trump and 18 other defendants were charged with a total of 41 criminal counts in connection with efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in the state.
Trump, according to the papers, is also barred from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case — including on social media — according to the bond agreement signed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Trump’s defense attorneys and the judge. It It explicitly includes “posts on social media or reposts of posts” made by others.
The agreement prohibits the former president from making any “direct or indirect threat of any nature” against witnesses or co-defendants, and from communicating in any way about the facts of the case with them, except through attorneys.
Along with Trump, his former personal lawyer John Eastman who has also been indicted in the Georgia case plans to surrender to Fulton County authorities on Wednesday. Eastman had reached a $100,000 bond agreement with Willis earlier on Monday.
This is Trump’s fourth indictment along with a New York state trial in March involving a hush money payment to a porn star and a federal trial in May in Florida for allegedly mishandling federal classified documents. An indictment in Washington federal court, which accused him of illegally seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat. While US Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested a January trial, a date has not yet been set.
The front-runner for the Republican Party has pleaded not guilty in all criminal cases and could spend much of next year in court, even as he campaigns to retake the White House. As per Reuters, Trump has repeatedly asserted without evidence that indictments against him are "witch hunts." He has regularly attacked Willis online and called her "radical left" and "corrupt."