2023-08-24 04:57:41
Donald Trump makes a whirlwind visit to a prison in the US state of Georgia on Thursday, where he must make himself available to the authorities following his indictment for his attempts to reverse the result of the 2020 presidential election.
The event promises to be one of those historic sequences that keep the country in suspense: even if it is the fourth criminal indictment of the ex-president in a few months, the Republican favorite for 2024 must this time face the affront of going to an overcrowded prison establishment, which is moreover notorious for its unsanitary conditions, under the eye of media from all over the world.
“It’s unbelievable. I’m going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED by a radical left prosecutor,” he stormed on his platform, Truth Social, protesting what he considers as “election interference”.
His coming, however, will be brief. Like his co-defendants, Donald Trump should be placed under arrest while remaining free following paying bail – set at $200,000 in his case. The rules in force also provide for the taking of fingerprints.
Above all, the 77-year-old former head of state might have to submit to the infamous ritual of the “mugshot”, the taking of a photo of the defendants.
He has escaped it each time he has surrendered to authorities in recent months because of his notoriety, but Patrick Labat, the sheriff of Fulton County which includes Atlanta, intends to treat all defendants in the same way. “No matter your status, we’ll be ready to take your picture,” he said.
“Mock”
Already, those of the 18 co-defendants of Mr. Trump who marched to prison (some in the middle of the night) have seen their passage immortalized and their photo circulating in a loop on television and on social networks.
Among them, the former mayor of New York and ex-lawyer for the billionaire, Rudy Giuliani, whose bond was set at 150,000 dollars and who came to Rice Street prison on Wednesday – it is under this name that is known the Fulton County Correctional Facility.
“This indictment is a travesty” of justice, he launched, when he left, to the dozens of journalists who jostled to question him in the crushing heat, in a tangle of microphones and cables.
The 19 accused have until Friday noon to report to the authorities.
They are expected to be back in court the week of September 5, presumably to announce whether or not they plead guilty. Prosecutor Fani Willis wants a trial in March 2024.
In mid-August, a grand jury appointed by the prosecutor had indicted Mr. Trump and 18 other people for their alleged unlawful attempts to obtain the reversal of the result of the 2020 election, won in this key state by the current president. Democrat Joe Biden.
They are prosecuted under a law on organized crime which provides for sentences of five to twenty years in prison.
Donald Trump is the subject of four criminal charges, two at the federal level, in Washington and Florida (southeast), one in New York State and one in Georgia.
But the legal clouds may be gathering, each twist brings him millions of dollars in donations, paid by Trumpists convinced that he is the victim of a “witch hunt”.
Debate and interview
Mr. Trump’s whirlwind passage to prison comes following the first Republican primary debate, held Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
An event that the business magnate snubbed: since he prances at the top of the polls, he deemed it unnecessary to participate. Instead, he gave an interview to Tucker Carlson, former star host of Fox News, which was broadcast on X (ex-Twitter)… at the same time as the debate.
He justified his refusal to debate with these words: “Why should I stand there, for an hour or two (…), being harassed by people who should not even be presidential candidates?”
The eight candidates present in Milwaukee – seven men including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and a woman, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley – therefore had tense exchanges without Donald Trump but sometimes on Donald Trump, in particular to the question of whether their support for the ex-president would continue if he were convicted.
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