Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell surrender in Georgia ahead of Trump's upcoming arrest: Recap

After having basked in conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, some Trump supporters are worried that a rally the former president is promoting outside the Fulton County Jail in Georgia ahead of his expected surrender in the state election interference case is an FBI setup.

The rally, promoted by the far-right activist Laura Loomer, is expected at 10 a.m. ET tomorrow, the day Trump has said he plans to turn himself in. Trump posted a link to a Newsweek article about the rally on his social media platform, Truth Social, as well as a screenshot of a Loomer post calling on Trump supporters to gather at the jail.

On both Truth Social and X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter, conservative users worried that undercover law enforcement officials and antifa activists were behind the rally, planning to use it as a “setup” to arrest Trump supporters.

“Watch out for the FBI and antifa/blm to stir up a riot,” a social media user with the display name “Ultra Maga” wrote.

Read the full story here.

Amy Kremer, an organizer of the "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6 who has not been indicted in the Fulton County case, posted a digitally altered image that adapts the style of the mug shots of defendants who have surrendered.

"I stand with my colleagues fighting for election integrity," Kremer wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

She also repeated the lie that the 2020 election was stolen before she clarified that the image had been "photoshopped."

Giuliani today criticized plans to take a mug shot of Trump when he turns himself in tomorrow.

In a livestream on X, formerly known as Twitter, Giuliani said it was unnecessary to take a booking photo of someone as well-known as Trump.

"That's all done for ... political theater," said Giuliani, one of Trump's 18 co-defendants.

Giuliani's mug shot was released today after he surrendered at the Fulton County Jail.

Willis filed a response today to Meadows’ request to move his case to federal court, arguing that his alleged actions had violated the Hatch Act.

"Because the defendant faces charges that do not arise from conduct under the color of his office, and because he can offer no plausible federal defense, the State of Georgia respectfully requests that this Court remand the case to the Superior Court of Fulton County," Willis wrote in a 22-page filing. "Federal law prohibits employees of the executive branch from engaging in political activity in the course of their work."

Willis argued that Meadows' indictment "results directly from his disregard for the lawful scope of his official duties" and highlighted a clause in the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from using their official authority or influence "to interfere with or affect the result of an election."

An attorney for Meadows didn't immediately respond to a request for comment tonight.

Meadows last week sought to move his case to federal court, citing a federal law that allows U.S. officers to remove civil actions or criminal prosecutions in state court for alleged actions taken “under color” of their offices to U.S. District Court.

Earlier today, a federal judge in Georgia denied Meadows’ bid to delay his arrest in Fulton County ahead of a hearing on the matter scheduled for Monday. Willis has given all 19 defendants until noon Friday to voluntarily surrender.

Aerial video appears to show Giuliani entering a building with a sign for A 2nd Chance Bail Bonds, a bail bond agency, the day he surrendered to Fulton County authorities.

William Prescott Floyd, who faces three counts in the Georgia election case, was charged in May with assaulting a federal officer, recently unearthed court documents show.

Floyd, who was charged alongside Trump with racketeering and also in connection with his conduct toward Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman, was charged a few months back after a pair of FBI special agents served him a federal grand jury subpoena at his Maryland home.

The Washington Post first reported on Floyd’s alleged assault of the agent, who was reportedly delivering a subpoena in connection with special counsel Jack Smith’s election probe. Trump is the only defendant in Smith's election case indictment, which mentions six unindicted co-conspirators.

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Maryland, special agents from the FBI’s Washington field office served Floyd a federal grand jury subpoena on Feb. 23, requiring him to appear before a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C.

An attorney for Floyd in the Maryland case and a spokesperson for the special counsel's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment tonight.

Floyd has yet to surrender in the Georgia case. Willis has given all 19 defendants until noon Friday to surrender voluntarily. Almost half of the defendants have surrendered.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, plans to skip tonight's presidential debate and counterprogram it from the safety and comfort of a taped interview with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson. But the former president will very much be present in spirit.

His criminal indictments, including charges stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in his favor, have been a specter in the race. And questions about his character and fitness for office have bedeviled his rivals, all of whom were required to pledge loyalty to their party’s eventual nominee in exchange for a spot on the stage. (Trump has not signed the pledge.)

How Fox News moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum handle the absent Trump will be one of several storylines to monitor. But with few exceptions, the GOP contenders have shown little appetite for taking him on directly.

Read the full story here.

A federal judge in Georgia has denied Meadows' bid to delay his arrest.

"Meadows argues that his federal officer status and federal immunity defense protect him from being arrested and being brought to trial in state court," U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones wrote, noting that Meadows' case has not been moved to federal court.

"While the Court understands Meadows’s argument that the federal immunity defense includes an immunity against arrest, the statutory language" of the applicable law "is clear that the state court proceedings continue until the Court has assumed jurisdiction over the case."

"The Court has made no determinations at this time about the viability of Meadows’s defense, and leaves such findings for after the evidentiary hearing," which is scheduled for Monday, Jones wrote.

Willis has given all defendants until noon Friday to surrender voluntarily; otherwise, arrest warrants will be issued.

Jones ruled shortly after he denied a similar request from Clark.

A federal court judge in Georgia issued an order today denying Jeffrey Clark's bid for an emergency stay of his Fulton County arrest warrant.

In a six-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones said Clark's arguments weren't supported by the law.

Clark argued that he was entitled to an order blocking the Fulton County District Attorney's Office from arresting him, saying in part he should be given a temporary reprieve because he's trying to get the case moved from state to federal court.

Jones said today that under federal law, state criminal proceedings can continue until the matter is resolved.

Jones ruled shortly after the DA's office filed a withering response to Clark's motion, calling his arguments "wrong on the law, wrong on the facts" and "a fundamental misunderstanding of criminal procedure—both state and federal.”

Willis has given Trump and his 18 co-defendants, including Clark, until noon Friday to voluntarily surrender. About half of the defendants have surrendered.

Trump defended his former lawyer on social media today after Giuliani surrendered.

"The greatest Mayor in the history of New York City was just ARRESTED in Atlanta, Georgia, because he fought for Election Integrity," Trump said on Truth Social.

He also repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump has said he will surrender at the Fulton County Jail tomorrow.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office released Giuliani's mug shot after he surrendered this afternoon.

Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis has surrendered to authorities in Fulton County.

Her consent bond order, filed yesterday, is $100,000 in total. The bond amount for the count of violation of Georgia's RICO Act is $75,000, and the amount for the count of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer is $25,000.

Ellis is the ninth of 19 defendants to surrender. Trump has said he will surrender tomorrow.

In brief comments to reporters this afternoon after his booking, Giuliani said he spoke with Trump today.

"I talked to the president today. I wish him well," Giuliani said. "I have every confidence in him."

Trump has said he will travel to Atlanta tomorrow for his booking at the Fulton County Jail.

The DA's office has asked a federal judge to deny former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows' request for a stay of his arrest, calling it "meritless."

Meadows argued he would be "irreparably harmed" if he were to be arrested in the election interference case ahead of a hearing Monday on whether his case should be moved to federal court.

Prosecutors said his "motion is baseless and in direct contravention with the requirements of the law."

"The defendant is simply requesting that this Court prevent him from being lawfully arrested as any criminal defendant would be after indictment on felony charges by a grand jury," prosecutors said, adding that his "claim that his status as a former federal officer somehow heightens this routine procedure to the level of irreparable injury to the defendant is baseless."

"It should be noted the defendant’s former boss, the former President of the United States, voluntarily agreed to surrender himself to state authorities, while other defendants have already surrendered," their filing said.

Meadows' federal case is being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones, who's also hearing Jeffrey Clark's motion for an emergency stay.

Giuliani spoke to reporters this afternoon after he was booked at the Fulton County Jail and insisted he was being wrongly prosecuted by District Attorney Fani Willis.

"Five other lawyers are indicted. That should tell you right away that this is an assault on our Constitution," Giuliani said in a chaotic media scene outside the jail. "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."

Giuliani, a former Trump lawyer, argued that 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."

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' office is urging a federal judge to reject Jeffrey Clark's request for an emergency stay of his case, arguing the former Justice Department official's reasoning is legally unsound.

Clark's request is “based on an apparent misread of the applicable statutes, a misapprehension of the binding caselaw, and a fundamental misunderstanding of criminal procedure—both state and federal,” the district attorney's office said in a court filing today.

Clark, who is accused of taking part in a plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, had argued that the Fulton County case against him should be moved to federal court because he was a federal official at the time of his alleged crimes. He also argued that he was entitled to an automatic stay because the case was a hybrid civil and criminal case, a contention the DA's office mocked in today's filing.

He also argued the stay was necessary in part because he didn't want to travel to Georgia or spend any time in the Fulton County Jail.

The DA’s office responded to that argument in today's filing by writing: "The defendant seeks to avoid the inconvenience and unpleasantness of being arrested or subject to the mandatory State criminal process, but provides this Court no legal basis to justify those ends. Defendant is wrong on the law, wrong on the facts, and the Motion should be denied."

Rudy Giuliani surrendered to authorities this afternoon after saying he would turn himself in today, according to his lawyers and court records.

He had already secured a bail bondsman and was expected to get fingerprinted and photographed. Giuliani is being represented by New York-based attorney John Esposito.

Attorney Sidney Powell, who helped lead Trump’s post-campaign legal efforts and promoted conspiracy theories, has been booked at the Fulton County Sheriff's Office.

She faces seven counts in the racketeering indictment. Her bond was set at $100,000.

Rudy Giuliani's bond was set at $150,000, two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed.

The bond order set $30,000 for his alleged violation of Georgia's RICO law and $10,000 each for the 12 remaining charges, which include the alleged solicitation of violation of oath of office by a public official, false statements and conspiracy, the filing showed.

Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer associated with Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign who was behind the legal theory underpinning the so-called fake electors scheme, filed motions in court today calling for a speedy trial.

“State law, if requested by a Defendant, sets a firm time limit in which to have a fair trial. Mr. Chesebro has given his official notice that he intends to avail himself of that right. Mr. Chesebro maintains his innocence and remains confident as the legal process continues," said his lawyers, Scott Grubman and Manny Arora.

The lawyers also filed motions and demands for discovery, in-camera inspection, preservation of evidence and the complete recording of all proceedings, among others things.

While Chesebro has called for a speedy trial, Trump has been trying to delay all trials on the four indictments against him.

A federal judge in Georgia ordered Willis to respond to Mark Meadows’ request for an emergency stay of her arrest warrant by 3 p.m. ET today.

Meadows argues that his case should be delayed until at least Monday, when U.S. District Judge Steve Jones has scheduled a hearing on Meadows’ argument that his case should be heard in federal court instead of a state venue because he was the White House chief of staff at the time of his alleged wrongdoing.

Jones is also hearing former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s petition to move his case to federal court. Clark has asked for an emergency stay, and Jones ordered Willis to respond to the motion by 3 p.m. today as well.

Willis has given all 19 defendants until noon Friday to surrender voluntarily, and she has rejected Meadows’ request for a delay until after Monday’s hearing.

Signature bond has been set at $10,000 for defendant Misty Hampton, a former Coffee County elections supervisor. That includes $4,000 for the alleged violation of Georgia's RICO law and $6,000 for six counts of alleged criminal conspiracy.

If Hampton does not turn herself in by noon ET on Friday, the bond order would be voided.

Co-defendant Sidney Powell, who helped lead Trump’s post-campaign legal efforts and promoted conspiracy theories, has agreed to a $100,000 bond.

Powell was charged last week with violating Georgia’s RICO act as part of the Fulton County indictment. The bond amount for the charge was set to $40,000.

The bond order also includes counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, computer theft, computer trespass and computer invasion of privacy, as well as conspiracy to defraud the state. The bond amount for those counts were set to $10,000 each.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed requests in August of last year to compel testimony from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Powell, saying they were in communication with Trump, his campaign “and other known and unknown individuals involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere.”

Powell previously testified before the former House Jan. 6 committee and said that Trump asked her to serve as “special counsel” to address election issues and to collect evidence — which allegedly included attempts to gather election data from elections equipment in rural Coffee County, Georgia, in early January 2021.

New York-based attorney John Esposito is heading to Atlanta with Rudy Giuliani to handle his bail and surrender.

Esposito works at the law firm Aidala, Bertuna and Kamins and is a former Manhattan assistant district attorney.

When they arrive, they will go to the local counsel’s office, where Giuliani will remain as attorneys go to District Attorney Fani Willis's office to negotiate a bail amount and sign documents. Those documents will be presented to a judge for approval.

Giuliani has already secured a bail bondsman. Once bond is secured, Giuliani will head to the Rice Street police station, where he will be fingerprinted and photographed. His arraignment is expected in the next week or two and may take place virtually. 

Attorney Brian Tevis of the Tevis Law Firm will serve as local counsel. He previously worked for the Atlanta Public Defenders Office in the Atlanta Judicial District.

Adam Reiss, Tom Winter, Vaughn Hillyard and Jonathan Dienst contributed to this report.

Trump participated in a fundraiser last night for Jan. 6 defendants, a source familiar with the event told NBC News.

The event was held at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The former president was also involved in a similar fundraiser in June. At that event, he said he would donate to the group. Last December, Trump also shared a video in support of another fundraiser for defendants charged in the insurrection Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump is expected to travel to Georgia tomorrow afternoon and plans to surrender to authorities at the Fulton County jail later in the night, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer who championed the former president’s bogus election fraud claims, said he will turn himself in to authorities in Georgia today to face racketeering charges alleging he meddled in the state’s 2020 presidential election.

“I’m going to Fulton County to comply with the law, which I always do,” he told reporters before leaving for Georgia. “I don’t know if I plea today but if I do I plead not guilty.”

Giuliani and Trump both face 13 counts, more than the other 17 defendants in the case.

The former New York City mayor has maintained his innocence, and claimed the only thing he’s guilty of was zealously advocating for his client. “I never thought I’d ever get indicted for being a lawyer,” Giuliani said on his radio show last week.

The indictment in Fulton County alleges that Giuliani was a key part of a criminal conspiracy,  pressing election officials in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania to act on voting fraud claims that he was repeatedly told were false. Giuliani was also charged with promoting false claims that voting machines were rigged, and making false claims in sworn legal filings.

Read the full story here.

Kenneth Chesebro, the lawyer associated with Donald Trump’s campaign who allegedly crafted the legal plan behind the so-called fake electors scheme, surrendered to Georgia authorities today after he was indicted on racketeering and other charges in the Georgia 2020 election investigation.

In addition to allegedly violating the Georgia Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, Chesebro faces six conspiracy-related counts, including forgery in the first degree and filing false documents. He was indicted along with Trump and 17 other defendants in Fani Willis’ probe last week on charges related to alleged attempts made by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state.

After Chesebro was indicted, his attorney Scott Grubman said Chesebro had been giving the Trump campaign legal advice and “stands ready to defend himself against these unfounded charges.”

Ray Smith, another lawyer allegedly involved in the electors scheme, also turned himself in today. He faces charges including racketeering, consipiracy, soliciting a violation of oath of office by a public official, and making false statements.

While the Georgia probe is the first time Chesebro has been charged in connection with attempts to keep Trump in power, he appears to be one of the six unindicted co-conspirators in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal indictment of Trump on on allegations that he conspired to block the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden after losing the election.

Separately, NBC News reported last week that public source video appeared to show Chesebro walking around Capitol grounds and capturing mobile video on Jan. 6, 2021. But at no point in the video viewed by NBC News does the man believed to be Chesebro enter the Capitol.

David Shafer, a former Georgia Republican Party chair and Trump "elector" who was booked at the Fulton County Jail early this morning and released, has tweeted out his mugshot. The county sheriff, which has not released photos of those booked today, confirmed its authenticity.

Trump "electors" David Shafer and Cathy Latham surrendered and were booked at Fulton County Jail early this morning and released, jail records show.

Shafer, a former Georgia GOP chairman, was indicted on racketeering and other charges in the Fulton County election subversion case. His surrender comes a day after his bond was set at $75,000.

Shafer, who was allegedly one of the false electors for Trump in Georgia after the former president lost the 2020 election, faces eight counts in District Attorney Fani Willis’ sweeping indictment against Trump and his 18 co-defendants. The charges against Shafer include two counts of false statements and writings and one count of criminal attempt to commit filing false documents and impersonating a public officer.

Latham, who served as chair of the Coffee County GOP, also allegedly served as one of Trump’s false presidential electors. She faces 11 counts in District Attorney Fani Willis’ sweeping indictment against Trump and his 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election probe.

The charges against Latham include impersonating a public officer, criminal attempt to commit filing false documents, and various conspiracy related counts to commit election fraud stemming from alleged efforts to illegally access voting machines in Coffee County. Court records yesterday showed that Latham had her bond set at $75,000.

Trump is facing four criminal cases. Yesterday, prosecutors in the Florida-based classified documents case disclosed in a filing that a witness's testimony changed after changing lawyers.

After Trump surrenders to Fulton County authorities tomorrow, the former president will be released from custody in Georgia under an already agreed-upon set of conditions, including a $200,000 bond.

As part of the conditions, Trump will be prohibited from doing anything a judge could interpret as an effort to intimidate co-defendants or witnesses or “otherwise obstruct the administration of justice.”

More specifically, Trump “shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature” against any co-defendant, witness or victim, the community or property in the community.

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