Former Trump lawyer turns himself in over efforts to overturn 2020 election

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's lawyer and confidant, has turned himself in at a jail in Atlanta on charges related to efforts to overturn then-president Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

The former New York mayor was indicted last week along with Trump and 17 others.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said they participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to subvert the will of the voters after the Republican president lost to Democrat Joe Biden in November 2020.

Bond for Giuliani, who was released on Wednesday after booking like the other defendants, was set at $150,000, second only to Trump’s $200,000.

Giuliani, 79, is accused of spearheading Trump’s efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia and other closely contested states to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint electoral college electors favourable to Trump.

Other high-profile defendants also surrendered on Wednesday, including Jenna Ellis, an attorney who prosecutors say was involved in efforts to convince state lawmakers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors, and lawyer Sidney Powell, accused of making false statements about the election in Georgia and helping to organise a breach of voting equipment in rural Coffee County.

Georgia was one of several key states Trump lost by slim margins, prompting the Republican and his allies to proclaim, without evidence, that the election was rigged in favour of his Democratic rival Biden.

No regrets

Outside the Fulton County Jail on Wednesday afternoon, Giuliani laughed when asked if he regretted allying himself with Trump.

"I am very, very honoured to be involved in this case because this case is a fight for our way of life," Giuliani told reporters.

"This indictment is a travesty. It’s an attack on – not just me, not just President Trump, not just the people in this indictment, some of whom I don’t even know – this is an attack on the American people."

After Giuliani's surrender, Trump repeated his unfounded claims that the election was rigged and stolen and wrote on his social media site, "The greatest Mayor in the history of New York City was just ARRESTED in Atlanta, Georgia, because he fought for Election Integrity."

Trump, the early front runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, has said he plans to turn himself in at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark are both trying to have the case against them heard in federal court rather than in Fulton County Superior Court.

Both argue the actions that gave rise to the charges in the indictment were related to their work as federal officials and that the case should be moved to federal court and the charges against them dismissed.

They had each asked a judge to allow them to avoid being arrested while those requests were pending, but US District Judge Steve Jones on Wednesday rejected their requests to avoid having to be booked in jail while they fight to move the case to federal court.

Willis has set a deadline of noon on Friday for the people indicted last week in the election subversion case to turn themselves in.

Other defendants surrendering

Also surrendering on Wednesday were lawyers Ray Smith and Kenneth Chesebro, who prosecutors said helped organise the fake electors meeting at the state Capitol in December 2020.

Attorney John Eastman, who pushed a plan to keep Trump in power, and Scott Hall, a bail bondsman who was accused of participating in the breach of election equipment in Coffee County, turned themselves in on Tuesday.

Trump is facing four criminal trials as he bids for a return to the White House.

Aside from Georgia, he faces charges in New York of paying hush money to an adult actress, in Florida for mishandling top secret government documents and in Washington for conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Trump did not have to have a mugshot taken during his three previous arrests this year, but Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat told reporters earlier this month that it is standard procedure at his jail.