The first of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in Georgia’s high-profile criminal case, which accuses Trump and his associates of subverting the 2020 election results, surrendered at an Atlanta jail.
County records and an official statement confirmed this pivotal moment in the ongoing legal saga.
John Eastman, former lawyer to Trump, and Scott Hall, a Republican poll watcher, both voluntarily surrendered to the county sheriff’s office. Their actions precede Trump’s scheduled surrender, set for two days from now, in response to his fourth criminal indictment this year.
Trump’s moves
Donald Trump, currently the front-runner for the Republican 2024 White House nomination, has consistently dismissed all the prosecutions as politically motivated, persistently asserting, albeit falsely, that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden resulted from electoral fraud.
John Eastman, in a statement, expressed his intention to surrender, having agreed to a $100,000 bond agreement the day before. He remarked, “I am here today to surrender to an indictment that should never have been brought. It represents a crossing of the Rubicon for our country, implicating the fundamental First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances.”
Scott Hall, the Republican poll watcher from Georgia’s Fulton County, was booked by the county’s sheriff’s office on Tuesday and remains in custody, as indicated by jail records. He had previously consented to a $10,000 bond arrangement, which entails reporting to pre-trial supervision every 30 days.
In the 41-count Georgia indictment unveiled last week, Trump and 18 other defendants face charges of racketeering and various other crimes related to their concerted efforts to reverse Trump’s electoral loss in the state to Joe Biden. Prosecutors are pushing for a trial to commence in March, although the complexity of the case and the sheer number of defendants may potentially lead to delays.
Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, recently sought to have the case moved to federal court and dismissed on the grounds of immunity from prosecution for actions taken during his federal tenure. Meadows had also requested a delay in his surrender until after a hearing in federal court on Monday. However, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis rejected this request and informed Meadows’ legal team that she would seek his arrest if he did not surrender by Friday afternoon, according to court records.
It is anticipated that Trump and other defendants will raise similar arguments, potentially causing further delays as their legal teams engage in pretrial litigation with prosecutors.
