Trump says he will be arrested on Thursday in Georgia election case

• Indictments of Donald Trump

By Max Matza

BBC News

Donald Trump has said he plans to turn himself in on Thursday to a court in the state of Georgia to face charges of election interference. 

A judge in Atlanta who is overseeing the former president’s case has set bail at $200,000 (£157,000).

The agreement says Mr Trump can remain free pending trial so long as he does not attempt to threaten or intimidate witnesses. 

Mr Trump denies 13 charges, including racketeering and false statements. 

He and the 18 others accused in this case had previously been given until noon on Friday to appear at Fulton County Jail for processing.

The county sheriff has said they will all be treated like any other defendants, which could mean Mr Trump is fingerprinted and has his mugshot taken.

Before he announced on social media that he would surrender on Thursday, a court filing was released that set out the terms of his bond agreement. 

“The defendant shall perform no act to intimidate any person known to him or her to be a co-defendant or witness in this case or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice,” it said.

“The above shall include, but are not limited to, posts on social media or reposts of posts made by another individual on social media,” the order adds.

It was signed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is overseeing the case, and lawyers for Mr Trump. 

Later on Monday Mr Trump posted to his social media platform, Truth Social: “Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED by a Radical Left District Attorney, Fani Willis.”

“She campaigned, and is continuing to campaign, and raise money on, this WITCH HUNT,” he added. “This is in strict coordination with crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ [Department of Justice].”

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Ms Willis has asked the judge to schedule arraignments – in which a defendant is formally charged and enters a guilty or not guilty plea – on 5 September. 

She has also proposed that the trial begin in March. Both the arraignment and trial could be televised.

When Mr Trump does surrender, there will be a lockdown of the surrounding area and barricades have already been erected outside the court.

Mr Trump was charged last week alongside his co-defendants with attempting to subvert the will of the Georgia electorate by meddling in the state’s election results following his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

The former president was heard in a phone call pressuring Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” during the ballot count.

The first former or serving US president ever to be indicted, he faces three other criminal cases.

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Mr Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and calls the charges politically motivated. 

He is currently leading the Republican race to pick its next White House nominee to challenge the Democratic candidate, probably Mr Biden, in the 2024 presidential election. 

Mr Trump has already said he will skip the first Republican televised debate on Wednesday evening.

“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday. “I will therefore not be doing the debates.”

Sources close to Mr Trump say he has instead recorded an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. 

State-by-state primaries – in which Republican voters will choose their party’s nominee – are due to begin on 15 January 2024. 

Also watch ”Matters of Law” on our Youtube Channel with Lawyer Andrews Dodzi Adugu Esq. on the discussion “Arrests, Bail, Court and Prison”.