Trump's mug shot released after booking at Georgia jail on election
charges
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[August 25, 2023]
By Rich McKay and Jack Queen
ATLANTA (Reuters) -Donald Trump's mug shot was released on Thursday
evening after he was booked at an Atlanta jail on more than a dozen
felony charges as part of a wide-ranging criminal case stemming from the
former U.S. president's attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in
Georgia.
An unsmiling Trump - inmate no. P01135809, according to Fulton County
Jail records - was captured glaring at the camera in the mug shot. The
image represented yet another extraordinary moment for Trump, who did
not have to submit to a photograph when making appearances in his three
other criminal cases.
He wasted little time trying to turn it to his advantage, posting it on
X, the site formerly known as Twitter, as well as his own social media
site, Truth Social. His campaign website featured the mug shot along
with a message from Trump defending his actions and asking for
donations.
The X post appeared to be Trump's first on the site since his account
was banned after a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on
Jan. 6, 2021. X owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump's account late last
year.
Trump spent only about 20 minutes at the jail before heading back to his
New Jersey golf club. Before boarding his private plane at Atlanta's
Hartsfield-Jackson airport, he repeated his claim that the prosecution -
along with the others he faces - is politically motivated.
"What has taken place here is a travesty of justice," he told reporters.
"I did nothing wrong, and everybody knows it."
Trump, 77, already has entered uncharted territory as the first former
U.S. president to face criminal charges, even as he mounts another
campaign for the White House next year.
Far from damaging his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination,
however, the four cases filed against him have only bolstered his
standing. He holds a commanding polling lead in the Republican race to
challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election.
Dozens of supporters, waving Trump banners and American flags, jostled
for a glimpse as Trump arrived at the jail. Among the Trump backers
gathered outside was Georgia U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene,
one of the former president's most loyal congressional allies.
Lyle Rayworth, 49, who is in the aviation industry in the Atlanta area,
had been waiting near the jailhouse for 10 hours, since early on
Thursday.
"Yeah, I'm hoping he sees me waving the flags, showing support,"
Rayworth said as he awaited Trump's arrival. "He needs us."
The image is certain to be circulated widely by Trump's foes and
supporters alike.
'A MORE POPULAR IMAGE THAN THE MONA LISA'
"We want to put it on a T-shirt. It will go worldwide. It will be a more
popular image than the Mona Lisa," said Laura Loomer, 30, a Republican
former congressional candidate who mingled with other Trump supporters
outside the jail on Thursday morning.
Judge Scott McAfee set a trial date of Oct. 23 for one of Trump's 18
co-defendants, attorney Kenneth Chesebro, after Fulton County District
Attorney Fani Willis proposed that date in response to Chesebro's
request for a speedy trial. The judge's order said the schedule does not
yet apply to Trump or any of the other defendants.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump
boards his plane at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
after turning himself in to be processed at Fulton County Jail after
his Georgia indictment, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., August 24, 2023.
REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
Eleven of his co-defendants already have been booked, according to
authorities. Some, like Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York mayor,
were stone-faced in their mug shots, while others, such as lawyer
Jenna Ellis, smiled for the camera.
All 19 defendants faced a Friday deadline to surrender. Court
records showed that Mark Meadows, who served as Trump's White House
chief of staff, was processed at the jail on Thursday.
The jail has a reputation for grim conditions that have inspired rap
songs and prompted an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.
Trump faces 13 felony counts in the Georgia case, including
racketeering, which is typically used to target organized crime, for
pressuring state officials to reverse his election loss and setting
up an illegitimate slate of electors to undermine the formal
congressional certification of Biden's 2020 victory.
TRIAL DATE WRANGLING
Willis originally proposed a trial date of March 4 but moved it up
for Chesebro after he asked that his trial start by October. Trump's
legal team has yet to propose a date but is expected to push for a
much later start. On Thursday, his newest Atlanta lawyer, Steven
Sadow, asked for Trump to be tried separately from Chesebro.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the three other cases and denied
wrongdoing. In the Georgia case, Willis has requested that
arraignments begin the week of Sept. 5, though defendants in Georgia
are permitted to waive those appearances and plead not guilty via
court filing.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed the first case,
accusing Trump of falsifying business records to hide hush money
payments to a porn star who claims to have had a sexual encounter
with him years ago.
Trump also faces two sets of federal charges brought by Special
Counsel Jack Smith - one case in Washington involving election
interference and one in Miami involving classified documents he
retained after leaving office in 2021. He faces 91 criminal counts
in total.
Trump agreed to post $200,000 bond and accepted bail conditions that
would bar him from threatening witnesses or his co-defendants in the
Georgia case.
Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives said on
Thursday they would investigate whether Willis improperly
coordinated with federal prosecutors. They previously launched an
investigation of Bragg, who accused them of a "campaign of
intimidation."
On Wednesday, Trump's leading rivals in the race for the Republican
presidential nomination met in Milwaukee for their first debate.
Trump skipped that event, instead sitting for a pre-taped interview
with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson aimed at siphoning away
viewers.
"I've been indicted four times - all trivial nonsense," Trump told
Carlson.
(Reporting by Rich McKay and Jack Queen in Atlanta; Additional
reporting by Eric Beech, Costas Pitas, David Ljunggren, Jack Queen,
Jacqueline Thomsen, Kanishka Singh and Rami Ayyub; Writing by Andy
Sullivan and Joseph Ax; Editing by Will Dunham, Scott Malone, Daniel
Wallis and Howard Goller)
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