‘I did nothing wrong': Donald Trump’s mugshot released after arrest on racketeering charges
Donald Trump has become the first former president in US history to have his mugshot taken, after he was arrested on racketeering charges which he decried as a ‘travesty.’
Donald Trump has become the first former president in US history to have his mugshot taken, after he was arrested today on racketeering and conspiracy charges in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mr Trump’s mugshot was released after he was freed on bail at Fulton County jail; he was also given an inmate number: PO1135809.
Mr Trump remained defiant, telling reporters that his charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election were a ‘travesty’.
“I did nothing wrong,” Mr Trump told reporters at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport before boarding his flight back to Jersey.
“This is a very sad day for America,” Mr Trump said. “You should be able to challenge an election. I should have the right to do this. We have seen many people over the years do the same thing.
“What has taken place is a travesty of justice.”
During a brief session lasting less than 30 minutes, 77-year-old Mr Trump was booked on 13 charges at Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail, according to records published by the sheriff’s office.
Trump’s height was listed by the jail as six foot three inches (1.9 metres), his weight as 215 pounds (97 kilograms) and his hair color as “Blond or Strawberry.”
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat confirmed that Mr Trunp had his mug shot taken before being released on $200,000 (AUD$309,000) bond.
Mr Trump, who is accused of colluding with 18 co-defendants to try to overturn the 2020 election result in the southern state, gave a thumb’s up to reporters and others on the tarmac after he left his plane, Trump Force One.
ELECTION INTERFERENCE! pic.twitter.com/qtVgAYJiEe
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 24, 2023
Mr Trump was at the jail for about 20 minutes before returning to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for his flight home to Jersey.
Trump set for jailhouse spectacle
Last week, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged him and 18 others with operating a criminal enterprise to subvert the 2020 election. If people don’t turn themselves in, warrants would be issued for their arrest, she said.
The event, while largely procedural, was expected to bring with it the kind of spectacle that Trump’s legal appearances have attracted in the past. Local law-enforcement officials have been making preparations for his arrival for months.
Trump goes to the airport to surrender pic.twitter.com/HEzdoK6RRm
— Sprinter (@Sprinter99800) August 24, 2023
On Thursday morning, many Trump supporters rallied outside the main gate to the Fulton County Jail. Many carried large Trump flags and wore MAGA shirts and hats, milling about amid a throng of media. Chants of ‘Trump’ hung in the air. A bus, with an American flag and ‘Trump 2024’ on the side of it, honked as it passed by.
Sheriff’s deputies were out in force, standing at barricades at the jail entrance and patrolling the neighbourhood surrounding the jail complex northwest of downtown.
A day earlier, Black politicians and civil rights and faith leaders rallied near the state Capitol in support of Willis, who is Black.
Trump’s lawyers secured a $200,000 bond for their client on Tuesday. Conditions of the bond bar Trump from using social media to criticise fellow defendants or potential witnesses.
On Aug. 14, Willis, a Democrat, announced an indictment of Trump, Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer and others with a range of felony counts, including racketeering. In her indictment, Willis alleges Trump sought to overturn his loss in Georgia as part of a broader scheme to keep himself in the White House.
The indictment charged Trump himself with 13 felonies, alleging he pushed false claims of voter fraud in Georgia and pressured state Republican officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, to help him secure the state’s 16 Electoral College votes.
Nine of the 19 defendants had turned themselves in by Wednesday, according to Fulton County jail records: Jenna Ellis, once a member of Trump’s legal team; Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer and former Trump campaign adviser; Sidney Powell, a former Trump legal adviser; Ray Stallings Smith, an Atlanta-area lawyer; Cathy Latham, who was a member of the Georgia Republican Party; John Eastman, a former constitutional law professor; and Scott Hall, owner of a bail-bonds business and a pro-Trump operative in Fulton County; and Shafer and Giuliani.
Willis launched her probe into alleged election interference in early 2021, after a telephone call by Trump to Raffensperger was made public. Her lengthy investigation included a special grand jury that subpoenaed more than 75 witnesses, including Giuliani and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. In the weeks leading up to the indictments, Trump has been sharply critical of Willis and her investigation, declaring it a political witch hunt.
Trump’s arrival at the jail, and later release of his mug shot, would provide historic images of a former leader of the U.S. and current top candidate who has faced charges in three other cases but hasn’t yet taken a mug shot.
In April, Trump flew to New York to plead not guilty to felony charges of falsifying records to hide hush-money payments made to a porn star weeks before the 2016 election, the first time a former president has been charged and booked for a crime.
In June, he pleaded not guilty in a Florida federal court to charges that he illegally retained and shared classified national-security documents after leaving the White House.
And earlier in August, Trump travelled to federal court in Washington to plead not guilty to charges related to the same 2020 election efforts.
Trump hasn’t yet entered a plea in the Georgia case. Willis has said she wanted defendants to be arraigned in early September.
Trump’s legal woes have been closely watched across the country, but especially in Georgia, where Republicans have battled among themselves between those who support Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and those who believe the party needs to move on. Biden won the state in 2020 by about 12,000 votes out of roughly five million cast. In 2024, the state is considered a crucial battleground for both parties in efforts to win the White House.
Dow Jones, AFP
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