Closing summary
In a lightning visit to Atlanta, Donald Trump was formally arrested after being indicted by Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis for trying to overturn the 2020 election, then released after posting a $200,000 bail bond. The visit to the county jail – a pilgrimage many of his co-defendants made this week – produced an image that will no doubt endure in American politics: his mug shot, the first ever taken of a former US president. Trump embraced the scowling portrait, even deploying it on Twitter in his first post since two days after the January 6 insurrection, when the platform temporarily booted him. That may be the biggest news of all. Trump used Twitter like no other politician during his successful White House run in 2016, and throughout his four years in office. We’ll be watching to see if he tries to repeat the trick as he runs for president once again.
Here’s what else happened today:
Willis asked a judge to start the trials in her case on 23 October – a speedy deadline that Trump is likely to fight.
But Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who assisted Trump as he looked for ways to prevent Joe Biden from taking office, will go to trial on 23 October, after he asked that his case be resolved quickly.
House Republicans are running interference for Trump once again by announcing an investigation into Willis.
Mark Meadows, who was Trump’s chief of staff around the time of his election loss and was indicted in Georgia, wants his trial moved to federal court.
One thing we learned from last night’s Republican presidential debate (which Trump skipped): opinions on abortion access range more than one might expect among the candidates.
Updated
Donald Trump’s campaign is putting his mug shot to use wherever they can, but Chris LaCivita, a senior advisor to his presidential campaign, is warning other parties against using it:
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
— Chris LaCivita (@LaCivitaC) August 25, 2023
If you are a campaign, PAC , scammer and you try raising money off the mugshot of @realDonaldTrump and you have not received prior permission …WE ARE COMING AFTER YOU you will NOT SCAM DONORS
Donald Trump is free to tweet his mug shot because he posted a $200,000 bond that will allow him to stay out of jail while his case in Georgia is resolved.
The Washington Post interviewed a Georgia bail bondsman at a company called Red Eye Bail Bonds (who asked to stay anonymous, citing privacy concerns and the headaches that can come with weighing in on American politics). While the bond was in the “top tier” of what he deals with, the bondsman said Trump’s case isn’t as unusual as it may appear, at least from the perspective of a bondsman:
In general, the manager said, Red Eye requires that a client provide 10 percent of the total bond. If the person under arrest is deemed to be a higher risk, that percentage increases. If the risk is higher, the company also will do more on the front end to establish whether resources exist to recoup the full value of the bond. Does the client own a house? Things like this.
After all, while Red Eye requires only 10 percent, the county requires the whole thing. That doesn’t mean that the firm has to put up $200,000 in cash. The whole point of involving a bondsman, after all, is that the firm serves as a proxy of trust on behalf of clients. There is a specialized power of attorney that is granted the firm, and when Red Eye decides to act as a guarantor for a client, a sum reflecting the total bond is frozen with the firm’s insurer.
I asked whether Trump’s $200,000 was unusually high. The manager thought about it for a moment before determining that it was in the “top tier” of what he usually sees. The midrange is about $100,000 or $110,000, he told me, but in cases involving more serious charges, costs could run higher.
He was also not fazed by the unique circumstances of Trump’s situation. He often has clients who are facing more than one indictment; that shows up in the initial analysis of the case and factors into the consideration of the arrestee as a flight risk. It is also not unusual for one party to live out of state, as Trump does. (He used the example of a college kid getting arrested and his parents posting bond remotely.) This, too, would on other occasions give him pause.
But he wasn’t really worried about Trump.
“I wouldn’t think he’s just outright not going to show up in court,” he said. This wasn’t just about Trump; in other “high-end cases like that, most likely or not the families are not going anywhere.” (I didn’t mention Trump’s recent social media post about moving to Russia.)
Updated
Citing two sources, CNN has more details on why Donald Trump opted to pose the way he did in his mug shot:
Trump's team had discussed the former president's mug shot prior to him taking it at the Fulton County jail Thursday evening, two sources familiar with the discussions tell me. Trump ultimately decided he wanted to appear "defiant" in the shot, and purposefully chose not to smile
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 25, 2023
Twitter banned Donald Trump two days after the January 6 attack, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence”.
That all changed about a year-and-a-half later when, after a tortuous process that nearly went to court, billionaire Elon Musk bought the influential social media platform. Musk, who recently renamed the platform X, was already a prolific tweeter and after buying the site held a poll asking whether Trump should be let back on.
A slim majority said yes, and Trump’s account was reinstated last November, but the former president did not use it – until today.
Updated
Trump tweets mug shot in first post since January 6 aftermath
Donald Trump has used his Twitter account for the first time since two days after the January 6 insurrection to share a photo of his newly taken mug shot:
https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023
Updated
It seems Donald Trump was happy with the mugshot authorities took at the Fulton county jail during his appearance there this evening.
It’s on the front of his main fundraising page, and his campaign is already selling t-shirts with the photo on the front and the words “NEVER SURRENDER!” on the back.
Updated
For all the spectacle the arrest of Donald Trump and his co-defendants provided in Georgia, the Guardian’s Sam Levine reports that it is unlikely to change the basic dynamics of next year’s presidential election:
One by one this week, they’ve made their way to 901 Rice Street, the address of the notorious Fulton county jail. Lawyers, government officials, a former state party chair and others have all surrendered to authorities after being charged as part of an alleged criminal effort to overturn the 2020 election.
On Thursday, the head of that enterprise, Donald Trump, himself surrendered, marking another historic moment for a president who has reshaped the rules of American politics. This is the closest that Trump has been to a jail cell to date and serves as a blunt reminder that no American or former president is above the law.
Like nearly everything Trump does, his surrender was orchestrated to be a spectacle. He deliberately timed his surrender, 7.30pm, to maximize cable news coverage. Reporters camped outside the jail all day on Thursday as temperatures reached mid-90F and Trump supporters gathered for a demonstration. There was wall-to-wall news coverage of Trump’s motorcade and arrival at the jail. While politicians typically try and shift attention away from their criminal legal troubles, Trump has embraced it, feeding into the circuit by advertising his surrender time.
Updated
Trump glares at camera in mugshot released by Fulton county jail
Donald Trump’s hostility shines through in the mugshot taken at the Fulton county jail as he was booked on charges of trying to steal the 2020 presidential election.
The former president turns his eyes up to glare toward the camera above him.
Dressed in a blue suit, white shirt and red tie, he makes no attempt to put on a smile like some of his co-accused in their booking photos. Instead, his mouth is taut and downturned.
The picture does not flatter, but it does convey the message many of Trump’s supporters want to hear – one of belligerence.
The six-pointed star of the Fulton county sheriff’s office badge and the name of the sheriff, Patrick Labat, sits in the top left-hand corner of the picture. But some will be disappointed that Trump is not seen in the classic pose holding a board in front of his chest with his name and date of arrest.
For all that, the former president’s supporters are already embracing the booking photo as a badge of honour and defiance. It will be held up as evidence that their man will not give up the fight against a system his followers see as ever more determined to bring him down and prevent him returning to the White House. The mugshot’s rapid appearance on T-shirts, posters and, well, mugs glorifying a martyred Trump can be expected.
The president’s detractors, on the other hand, will see the booking photo as evidence that even a man who was once the most powerful person in the land cannot escape the might of the justice system.
Some will welcome anything that makes him look even a little bit more criminal as a confirmation that sooner or later he is going to prison. The accused may be innocent until a plea or a jury says otherwise, but mugshots can have a way of conveying guilt.
Updated
Donald Trump’s plane has now departed Atlanta, but the former president will undoubtedly be back.
The question is: when? Expect Trump’s lawyers to do everything they can to delay his trial on the indictment brought by Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis.
For a taste of his likely strategy, take a look at the pre-trial motions in the federal case brought against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election, where Trump’s lawyers have proposed a trial date in 2026. A judge has yet to decide the matter.
Donald Trump mug shot released
Here is the mug shot of Donald Trump that was taken when he was arrested at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta:
No former US president has ever had his mug shot taken.
Updated
Here’s a video clip of Donald Trump’s brief remarks to reporters before departing Atlanta:
Donald Trump speaks after getting booked at Fulton County jail in the Georgia election interference case:
— The Recount (@therecount) August 25, 2023
"When you, uh, have that great freedom to challenge, you have to be able to, otherwise you're gonna have very dishonest elections." pic.twitter.com/1XbW3rubsj
Before boarding his plane at Atlanta’s airport, Donald Trump spoke briefly to reporters about his arrest.
“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong, and everybody knows that,” Trump said, hewing to the line he has taken repeatedly as the investigations into his attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat have unfolded.
“What they’re doing is election interference,” he added, in a nod to his ongoing campaign to return to the White House in the 2024 polls.
“We did nothing wrong at all, and we have every right, every single right, to challenge an election that we think is dishonest.”
He declined to answer shouted questions from the press, including about whether he would pardon himself if he is again elected president.
Donald Trump is expected to speak at the Atlanta airport before he boards his private plane, CNN reports.
The former president made remarks from the tarmac in Washington DC earlier this month, after appearing in federal court to answer charges related to the plot to stop Joe Biden from taking office and the January 6 insurrection.
Just before he arrived in Atlanta, Donald Trump (or whoever writes his messages for him) sent an email to supporters that begins: “This will be my last email to you before I enter the Fulton County Jail to be ARRESTED as an innocent man.”
It’s a gripping opening line, and indeed, this was a big moment: Trump’s trip to jail was something no former president has ever gone through.
The 250-plus words that follow are filled with dire proclamations. “The people of our country will watch in shock and horror as a former President – and the LEADING OPPONENT to the current regime – gets WRONGFULLY ARRESTED in a notoriously violent jail at the hands of the ruling political party”, Trump protests in a typical line.
“I’m now about to enter Fulton County Jail. These are my last words to you before my sham arrest: I WILL NEVER SURRENDER OUR MISSION TO SAVE AMERICA” he continues.
And that’s when the message’s purpose becomes clear: “Please make a contribution to peacefully defend our movement as the Deep State tries to JAIL me for life as an innocent man all because I put AMERICA first.” The text itself is actually a hyperlink that leads to a donation page run by WinRed – a fundraising platform with a history of ripping off consumers.
Below that is a series of boxes beginning at $24 and going up to $250. Perhaps the goal is to cover the $20,000 he had to put down to bond out of the Fulton county jail.
Trump departs Fulton county jail after arrest
The motorcade carrying Donald Trump has left the Fulton county jail, about 20 minutes after he arrived to be formally arrested following his indictment by district attorney Fani Willis on charges related to trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory in the state.
Updated
Fulton county authorities took mugshot of Trump – report
Donald Trump had his mugshot taken during his processing into custody at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta, CNN reports, citing the county sheriff.
Updated
It’s possible that Donald Trump will have his mugshot taken when he is processed into custody in Fulton county – as has been the case with the other co-defendants who have surrendered at the jail.
Outside the jail, rightwing Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was not involved in the case but is nonetheless an enthusiastic supporter of the former president, announced she had made her own mugshot, and encouraged other Trump fans to do the same:
“To stand in solidarity with Pres. Trump, I made my own mug shot with the Fulton County Jail here logo and I changed it to my official photo on Twitter. So, I encourage everyone to make your own MAGA mug shot.”
— The Recount (@therecount) August 24, 2023
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) outside the Fulton County Jail pic.twitter.com/mufFeGxxPv
She has indeed made the mugshot her Twitter (or X) profile picture.
Updated
Donald Trump’s booking details have been posted on the Fulton county jail’s website.
Besides listing the 13 charges the former president faces, the jail provides his identifying details: white male, 6ft 3in in height, 215lbs, blond or strawberry hair, blue eyes.
Updated
Trump surrenders at Fulton county jail
Donald Trump has been officially booked into the Fulton county jail after being indicted for trying to meddle in Georgia’s elections three years ago, Reuters reports.
The former president plans to post a $200,000 bond that will allow him to avoid spending time behind bars before trial, but it is possible he will have his mugshot taken today – the first time this has happened in the four separate criminal cases he is now facing.
Updated
Trump arrives at Fulton county jail to be formally arrested in Georgia election case
Donald Trump has arrived at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta, where he will be formally arrested after his indictment by the district attorney Fani Willis on charges related to his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in the state.
The former president is not expected to spend time in jail, having reached an agreement to post a $200,000 bond that will guarantee his release as his case moves through the court system.
Updated
Here’s the scene outside the Fulton county jail in Atlanta, where Donald Trump will soon arrive:
Here’s video of the moment Donald Trump disembarked in Atlanta:
Donald Trump arrives in Atlanta, Georgia, to surrender to Fulton County authorities.
— The Recount (@therecount) August 24, 2023
He stops and mouths, “Thank you very much.” pic.twitter.com/CstAgs91d8
Donald Trump disembarked from his plane, flashing a thumbs up to a small group of reporters gathered below the boarding stairs.
He made no comments before getting into one of the many black SUVs that make up his motorcade.
Here’s a livestream of Donald Trump’s plane, which is currently taxiing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport:
Updated
Trump lands in Atlanta
Donald Trump’s plane has landed in Atlanta.
Next stop: the Fulton county jail, where the former president will be formally arrested, but is expected to be released after posting a $200,000 bond.
Donald Trump has enlisted a local bonding company to secure his release from the Fulton county jail, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
“We will be posting his bond when he arrives,” Charles Shaw, the CEO of Foster Bail Bonds LLC in Lawrenceville, an Atlanta suburb, told the paper.
According to CNN, Trump paid 10% of the $200,000 bond, which was one of the conditions for his release agreed to with the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis.
Updated
When Donald Trump arrives at the Fulton county jail, he’ll have company.
Besides the Secret Service agents guarding him, CNN reports his newly retained lawyer will be there for his formal arrest:
Donald Trump's newly-hired lawyer, Steven Sadow will accompany Trump to the Fulton County jail on Thursday, CNN has learned
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 24, 2023
Sadow is currently waiting at the airport in Atlanta and will ride in the former president's motorcade to the jail
Trump is not expected to spend time in jail, having posted a $200,000 bond as part of an agreement that will allow him to remain free while his case moves towards trial.
CNN reports that the rightwing Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene will also be waiting for Trump when he lands in Atlanta:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also stopped by the Atlanta airport where Trump is expected to arrive later this evening before she headed to the Fulton County jail where she plans to protest his indictment https://t.co/MFQcajSApQ
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 24, 2023
The former president is currently in the air and expected to land at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport shortly.
Updated
Georgia is far from the only state grappling with the aftermath of Donald Trump’s attempt to stay in the White House despite losing the 2020 election. As the Guardian’s Alice Herman reports, local officials in Michigan are outraged by the fake elector scandal that occurred there:
When the news broke in 2020 that 16 Republicans in Michigan had signed a certificate falsely claiming to be electors for Donald Trump, Rosemary Herweyer was dismayed to find a prominent local politician, Kent Vanderwood, listed among the signatories.
“His willingness to sign a fake elector paper and try to send that in and negate Michigan’s actual vote speaks to his integrity,” Herweyer said of Vanderwood, who was then a member of the Wyoming, Michigan, city council. “How can I trust anything he does?”
Vanderwood, who served on the city council for 16 years before being elected mayor of the city in 2022, now faces eight felony charges for his role as a false elector during the 2020 presidential election. Fifteen other Republicans, including the former co-chair of the Michigan GOP, have also been criminally charged.
Since Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, announced the charges on 18 July – making the state the first to prosecute a full slate of false electors involved in the seven-state scheme – voters and good government groups have begun a push for elected officials involved to resign. Across the state, a mayor, a school board member and a township clerk whose role includes administering elections have each been arraigned and have pleaded not guilty, and in each community, constituents are pushing for accountability.
“Over 2 million people voted for Joe Biden in Michigan, and Stan Grot decided that our votes didn’t matter,” said Alisa Diez, a Democratic party activist in Shelby Township, where Stanley Grot, one of the 16 false electors, currently serves as township clerk.
After Grot was charged, the state stripped him of his ability to administer elections, but he remains in office.
Donald Trump will appear on Newsmax with host Greg Kelly at 9pm tonight following his surrender at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta, Georgia, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports.
New: Trump will be on Newsmax with Greg Kelly at 9pm tonight after his surrender at Fulton County jail, per notice
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 24, 2023
Trump’s Newsmax appearance later tonight will follow a post he made on his Truth Social account earlier today as he prepared to make his way from New Jersey to Georgia, which read:
I have to start getting ready to head down to Atlanta, Georgia, where Murder and other Violent Crimes have reached levels never seen before, to get ARRESTED by a Radical Left, Lowlife District Attorney, Fani Willis, for A PERFECT PHONE CALL, and having the audacity to challenge a RIGGED & STOLEN ELECTION. THE EVIDENCE IS IRREFUTABLE! ARREST TIME: 7:30 P.M.
Updated
The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that a federal judge has set an 18 September hearing for former Donald Trump Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark’s request to remove his case to federal court.
Clark has been charged alongside Trump in a 41-count indictment over efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential elections in Georgia.
New: Federal judge sets Sep. 18 hearing for former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark's request to remove his case to federal court. Clark has argued Fulton County charges involved actions within his official capacity as a DOJ official.
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 24, 2023
Updated
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie appeared on Morning Joe following Wednesday evening’s debate during which he refused to raise his hand when the presidential candidates were asked whether they would support Donald Trump if he becomes the GOP nominee.
Christie spoke about the other candidates who raised their hands, saying: “I can only assume it’s because they’re auditioning for what they’re praying to be a future vice-president nomination or cabinet bid in a Trump administration.”
The problem for them is that Donald Trump is never going to be president of the United States again … When someone says they’re willing to suspend the constitution, that they took an oath to preserve, protect and defend. That’s just wrong … It’s not a hard answer for them either, but they’re playing a political game.
"When someone says they're willing to suspend the Constitution, that they took an oath to preserve, protect and defend. That's just wrong... It's not a hard answer for them either, but they're playing a political game."
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) August 24, 2023
— @GovChristie on GOP candidate's willingness to back Trump pic.twitter.com/m3KdwsmsYH
Updated
As Donald Trump makes his way to Atlanta, Georgia, his former vice-president and current Republican opponent Mike Pence has urged him to join the other candidates in the next GOP debate.
Speaking to the Associated Press in a new interview after Wednesday night’s debate, Pence said:
I believe that this country’s in a lot of trouble and every man and woman who aspires to carry the banner of the Republican party owes it to the American people to get on that stage to answer the tough questions and to articulate their vision for the future of the country and let the voters decide.
Updated
The legal gears continue to grind forward for the other people indicted in Georgia alongside Donald Trump, including Jeff Clark, the former justice department official who has asked to move his trial to federal court.
Politico reports that the judge handling his case will hold a hearing on 18 September on the matter:
BREAKING: Judge Steve JONES has ordered a Sept. 18 hearing on Jeff CLARK's bid to remove his criminal charges to federal court. https://t.co/4vvAyjNHAY pic.twitter.com/5TyneBbJ0b
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 24, 2023
This was the scene as the motorcade of Donald Trump made its way from his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, to the airport in Newark:
Updated
Squint through the gloomy Newark, New Jersey weather in this Sky News footage and you can see the flashing lights of what appears to be Donald Trump’s motorcade arriving at the plane that will take him to Georgia:
BREAKING: New pictures of Newark airport in New Jersey where Trump's motorcade has arrived ahead of his flight to Atlantahttps://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 24, 2023
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/X8GGDyP6hq
Trump arrives at airport for flight to Georgia
Donald Trump has arrived at the airport in Newark, New Jersey, where he will board his flight to face arrest in Atlanta, CNN reports.
In his order to begin Kenneth Chesebro’s trial on 23 October, Judge Scott McAfee noted that the schedule does not apply to anyone else.
“At this time, these deadlines do not apply to any co-defendant,” the judge wrote. That’s good news for the 18 other people indicted by the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, including Donald Trump, whose lawyers are currently trying to get his case moved to federal court, which could delay it for months – potentially long enough for him to win his race for the White House.
Updated
Judge sets 23 October trial date for Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro
Kenneth Chesebro, another of Donald Trump’s attorneys who advised him on his plot to overturn his 2020 election loss, requested a speedy trial after being indicted in Georgia, and it appears his wish has been granted.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the judge handling his case has said Chesebro’s trial will begin on 23 October – as Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis had proposed:
Fulton Judge Scott McAfee laying out a very aggressive timetable for Chesebro's Fulton trial, with an Oct. 23, 2023 start date. pic.twitter.com/uqOmqzuHRc
— Tamar Hallerman (@TamarHallerman) August 24, 2023
Per McAfee's scheduling order:
— Tamar Hallerman (@TamarHallerman) August 24, 2023
Arraignments - Sept. 6
Discovery - by Sept. 20
Motions - by Sept. 27
Pretrial conference - Sept. 29
Motions hearing - TBD
Trial - Oct. 23
Updated
When Donald Trump appears at the Rice Street jail in Atlanta this evening, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that he will be treated like any other defendant. That includes having his mugshot taken, and his height and weight recorded:
Donald Trump was expected to surrender at the Fulton county jail on Thursday evening on racketeering and conspiracy charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, yielding to the criminal justice process in Georgia that will involve him being processed like any other defendant.
The former president’s arrival in Georgia follows a presidential debate featuring his main rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination, a race in which Trump remains the overwhelmingly dominant frontrunner despite his many legal troubles.
Trump had his legal team negotiate his booking to take place during the primetime viewing hours for the cable news networks, as he sought to discredit the charges and distract from the indignity of the surrender by turning it into a spectacle.
But Trump was expected to be booked by authorities without the special privileges afforded to him in his other criminal cases, being subject to a mugshot that he had desperately sought to avoid, having his fingerprints taken, as well as having his height and weight recorded.
Trump faced his fourth indictment since leaving office when he was charged in a 41-count indictment by the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, last week, that described Trump and 18 allies as having engaged in a criminal enterprise to reverse his 2020 election defeat.
Trump departs resort to face arrest in Georgia
Donald Trump has left his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort for Georgia, where he is expected to be formally arrested this evening, CNN reports.
Updated
Trump says to expect arrest at 7.30pm eastern
In a post on his Truth social account, Donald Trump said he expected to be arrested in Georgia at 7.30pm eastern time, and fired off his typical string of insults at Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis.
Here it is, in full:
231,000,000 Views, and still counting. The Biggest Video on Social Media, EVER, more than double the Super Bowl! But please excuse me, I have to start getting ready to head down to Atlanta, Georgia, where Murder and other Violent Crimes have reached levels never seen before, to get ARRESTED by a Radical Left, Lowlife District Attorney, Fani Willis, for A PERFECT PHONE CALL, and having the audacity to challenge a RIGGED & STOLEN ELECTION. THE EVIDENCE IS IRREFUTABLE! ARREST TIME: 7:30 P.M.
Georgia authorities release Meadows mugshot
Here’s the mugshot for Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, which Georgia authorities released following his booking today:
John Eastman’s bad week just got worse. A lawyer who advised Donald Trump on his legal strategy to stop Joe Biden’s election victory, Eastman was among those indicted in Georgia by district attorney Fani Willis for his attempt to tamper with the state’s election.
On Tuesday, he was formally booked into the Fulton county jail, and Politico reports that today, the California bar is considering whether to revoke his license to practice law:
HAPPENING NOW: John Eastman's disbarment proceedings are underway in California, even as his indictment is now pending in Georgia.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 24, 2023
Currently on the stand: Matthew Seligman, an expert in the Electoral Count Act, who is explaning its provisions as Eastman looks on.
Eastman’s name popped up repeatedly in the January 6 committee investigation last year, which discovered that he asked Trump for a pardon days after the attack on the Capitol.
Interim summary
Hello US politics live blog readers, things are very busy at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta and are only going to get busier as more co-defendants in Donald Trump’s Georgia election subversion case negotiate bail then turn themselves in – and the former US president is due there this evening to surrender himself. We’re covering all this as it happens, so do stick with Guardian US.
Here’s where things stand:
Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s chief of staff at the White House, turned himself in at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta, Georgia to face racketeering charges.
Jeff Clark, a former justice department attorney and a codefendant in the Georgia election subversion case, struck a $100,00 bond agreement with Fulton county prosecutors.
Fani Willis, Fulton county district attorney, has proposed for the Georgia racketeering (Rico) case against Trump and his 18 co-defendants to start on 23 October 2023, according to a court filing.
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, has been subpoenaed to testify at a Monday hearing examining efforts by Meadows to move the Fulton county criminal case to federal court.
The Republican-led House judiciary committee launched a congressional investigation into the Willis, over whether her prosecution of Donald Trump is “politically motivated”.
Mark Meadows is trying to get his part of the Georgia organized crime case against him, Donald Trump and others moved from state court to federal court and had hoped to be able to avoid having to surrender at the jail in Atlanta this week with his co-defendants.
Two days ago he asked a federal court in an emergency motion to block his arrest, according to court documents filed on Tuesday. He asked the court to “protect” him from arrest before a Monday 28 August, hearing on his request to move the case out of the Fulton county superior court to the district court of northern Georgia.
Meadows is arguing that the charges against him concern his actions as an officer of the federal government. Trump is expected to argue likewise in due course.
In response, Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis unequivocally rejected the request, noting: “I am not granting any extensions” and that he was no different from any other defendant in a criminal case.
Willis indicated that if Meadows does not turn himself in by noon on Friday, he would be arrested, writing: “At 12:30 pm on Friday I shall file warrants in the system.”
Early Thursday afternoon, he surrendered to the jail to be booked.
Updated
Mark Meadows has turned himself in at Fulton county jail in Atlanta, just under 24 hours before the deadline of noon Friday for all 19 defendants in the Georgia case to surrender, to face the criminal charges against him
Like Donald Trump and all 17 fellow co-defendants, Meadows is charged with being part of an organized crime racket in relation to working with others to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election.
In official terms, he’s charged with violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (Rico) and “solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer”, in the latter case being accused in the indictment of “unlawfully soliciting, requesting and importuning Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger … to engage in conduct constituting the felony offense…by unlawfully altering, unlawfully adjusting and otherwise unlawfully influencing the certified returns for presidential electors for the November 3, 2020, election in Georgia…”
This, in short, related to efforts from Trump’s mob to persuade Raffensperger to rustle up enough non-existent Republican votes falsely that it would give the-then president the win in the crucial state.
Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has surrendered at the Fulton County Jail.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August 24, 2023
pic.twitter.com/iJOBgg63Ya
Updated
Former White House chief of staff Meadows surrenders in Georgia
Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s chief of staff at the White House, has just turned himself in at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta, Georgia.
He faces racketeering charges alongside Trump and 17 other co-defendants.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires taken at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta, Georgia, where Donald Trump is expected to surrender this evening on racketeering and conspiracy charges.
Updated
Trevian Kutti, a former publicist who was charged in the Georgia case in connection with the intimidation of an Atlanta election worker, has agreed to a $75,000 bond.
A Chicago-based publicist, Kutti allegedly threatened a Georgia election worker, Ruby Freeman, with jail if she did not say she participated in election fraud.
She faces three counts in the indictment: violation of Georgia’s Rico Act, criminal conspiracy and influencing witnesses.
Updated
Former DoJ official Jeff Clark reaches $100,000 bond agreement
Jeff Clark, a former justice department attorney, has struck a $100,00 bond agreement with Fulton county prosecutors.
Clark’s bail conditions include not communicating with witnesses and co-defendants, reporting to pretrial services by phone every month, surrendering by noon on Friday and not obstructing justice by intimidating witnesses.
From Politico’s Kyle Cheney:
And here is Jeff CLARK's bond order. Also set at $100,000 pic.twitter.com/TIDJKdq0uG
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 24, 2023
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Ahead of the surrender, Donald Trump shook up his legal team and retained the top Georgia attorney Steven Sadow, who filed a notice of appearance with the Fulton county superior court as lead counsel, replacing Drew Findling. Trump’s other lawyer in the case, Jennifer Little, is staying on.
The reason for the abrupt recalibration was unclear, and Trump’s aides suggested it was unrelated to performance. Still, Trump has a record of firing lawyers who represented him during criminal investigations but were unable to stave off charges.
Findling was also unable to exempt Trump from having his mugshot taken, according to people familiar with the matter – something that personally irritated Trump, even though the Fulton county sheriff’s office had always indicated they were uninterested in making such an accommodatioin.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The other 18 co-defendants in the 2020 election subversion case appear to be receiving regular treatment based on online jail records for the former Trump election lawyer John Eastman and others, who had their height, weight and personal appearance made public.
Once the booking is complete, Trump was expected to be released immediately on conditions that include stringent witness intimidation restrictions that have not been put in place for his co-defendants, court filings show, until he is due back in state court for arraignment.
The Trump legal team could file a motion to remove the case to federal court before then, under a federal statute that allows for such venue changes if the case involves federal officials’ actions taken “under color” of their office – as in, if it was part of official duties.
Trump could face major difficulties with that argument, however, since he would have to show that taking steps to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia amounted to him acting in his official capacity as president, legal experts have said.
Donald Trump was expected to leave this afternoon from his Bedminster club in New Jersey, where he spends his summers, and fly by private plane to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport.
He was then expected to travel into Atlanta by US Secret Service motorcade, a person familiar with the matter said.
The schedule will involve Trump arriving at the infamously decrepit Rice Street jail, located north-west of downtown Atlanta, in the early evening and the motorcade is expected to snake around into the jail premises down a road lined with dozens of TV cameras.
The strategy to turn the surrender into a made-for-television circus has been an effort to discredit the indictments, the person said, as well as to capitalize on the information void left by prosecutors after the events to foist his own spin on the charges.
To that end, once Trump is done with the booking process and returns directly to the airport, Trump is weighing delivering impromptu remarks to reporters there before boarding his plane as he liked to do when he was president talking to a pool of reporters, the person said.
Trump prosecutor Fani Willis calls for Georgia election subversion trial to begin 23 October
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis has proposed for the Georgia election subversion trial against Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants to start on 23 October 2023, according to a court filing.
The scheduling request by Willis came a day after one of Trump’s co-defendants, Kenneth Chesebro, filed a demand for a speedy trial in the county superior court.
Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows reaches $100,000 bond agreement in Georgia case
Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, has agreed to a $100,000 bond deal with the Fulton county district attorney’s office, according to court documents.
Meadows was charged with two felony counts, including violating the Georgia Rico Act and solicitation of violation of oath from a public officer.
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Trump co-defendant Mark Meadows to argue for moving his Georgia case to federal court
Here’s more on Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis’ subpoenas for Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and investigator Francis Watson.
A federal judge last week ordered an “evidentiary hearing” on a motion by Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, to remove the case to federal court. The hearing is expected to take place at 10am ET on Monday.
Meadows, who is a co-defendant alongside Trump in the Georgia election subversion case, has sought to move his charges to federal court and push his Friday deadline to turn himself into Fulton county authorities, aruing the charges concern his actions as an officer of the federal government.
On Wednesday, Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis urged a judge to deny Meadows’ “meritless” request to delay his arrest in the Georgia case. Willis rejected Meadows’ request for an extension on the deadline, according to Meadows’ emergency motion.
I am not granting any extensions. I gave 2 weeks for people to surrender themselves to the court. Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction. The two weeks was a tremendous courtesy.
Meadows was charged with two felony counts, including violating the Georgia Rico Act and solicitation of violation of oath from a public officer, according to Willis’s indictment. Meadows was on the infamous phone call when Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” votes to overturn Biden’s victory in the state.
He also received hundreds of text messages on 6 January 2021 alerting him and the White House of escalating violence at the US Capitol and asking Trump to intervene.
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Donald Trump is expected to leave his club in New Jersey later this afternoon with a coterie of aides and turn himself to Fulton county authorities this evening, the Washington Post reported, citing sources.
Trump is not expected to deliver a speech, as he has done in the past after some of his previous indictments, the report says.
Former Trump DoJ official Jeff Clark’s lawyer has arrived at the Fulton county district attorney’s office, apparently to negotiate bond conditions.
A federal judge denied Clark’s motion to stay his surrender before noon tomorrow while he tries to have his case removed to federal court.
Updated
While former president Donald Trump was preparing to surrender at an Atlanta jail on Thursday, he was apparently also reconsidering his legal defense team.
Just hours before Trump is supposed to turn himself in, reports broke that he had shaken up his team. Criminal defense lawyer Steve Sadow is reportedly going to replace Trump’s existing lawyer, Drew Findling, according to the New York Times.
Notably, Findling, alongside Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg, was key in negotiating Trump’s $200,000 bond. Little will reportedly stay on the team.
The Guardian has contacted Sadow for further comment.
Updated
Law enforcement officers are on high alert at the Fulton county jail, where Donald Trump is expected to turn himself to be processed later today.
Updated
Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger subpoenaed to testify in federal court
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, has been subpoenaed to testify at a Monday hearing examining efforts by the former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to move the Fulton county criminal case to federal court, according to court filings.
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis also subpoenaed Frances Watson, the chief investigator for Raffensperger during the 2020 election.
From Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tamar Hallerman:
Brad Raffensperger's subpoena also came through, a day after my report with @bluestein pic.twitter.com/IoYPuE3IBG
— Tamar Hallerman (@TamarHallerman) August 24, 2023
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House Republicans open investigation into Fulton county DA Fani Willis
The Republican-led House judiciary committee launched a congressional investigation into the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, over whether her prosecution of Donald Trump is “politically motivated”.
In a letter to Willis announcing the investigation, House Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan demanded Willis turn over information and communications with the justice department and federal officials by 7 September. The letter states:
Ms. Willis’s indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding her actions raise serious concerns about whether such actions are politically motivated.
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It was perhaps remarkable that the conversation between Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson was taking place at all.
Just five months ago, Carlson was revealed to have said of Trump in a text message:
I hate him passionately.
“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” the then Fox News prime-time anchor said in a message to a colleague in early January 2021 as the former president continued a futile battle to remain in office. “I truly can’t wait.”
But the two men set aside their differences to jointly take on their respective enemies – Fox and the rest of the Republican primary field.
Despite the array of charges he faces for trying to rig the 2020 presidential election, Trump continued to maintain the false claim that it was stolen from him by the Democrats.
Trump also defended the crowd that gathered to hear him speak on 6 January 2021 immediately before the mass assault on Congress that shocked the US and the world and is now the subject of one of Trump’s indictments. Trump suggested that he told the protesters to behave “peacefully and patriotically” but “a very small group” went to the Capitol.
Donald Trump suggested to Tucker Carlson, in a Twitter interview with the far-right former Fox News host staged to undermine the first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, that he is concerned “the left” will try to kill him.
In a rambling interview, speckled with discussion of conspiracy theories from whether the billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in his jail cell to the role of federal agencies limiting the amount of water in washing machines, Trump took aim at critics on all sides in his traditional derisory fashion.
Tucker Carlson: “Do you think it’s possible that [Jeffrey] Epstein was killed?”
— The Recount (@therecount) August 24, 2023
Trump: “I think he probably committed suicide. He had a life with beautiful homes and beautiful everything and all of a sudden he’s incarcerated…” pic.twitter.com/9Q0UErmpOY
In the 46-minute interview broadcast on Twitter, Carlson asked Trump if he is concerned “the left”, after impeaching and then indicting him, would try to kill him.
“They’re savage animals. They are people that are sick, really sick,” Trump responded.
You have great people that are Democrats. Most of the people in our country are fantastic. And I’m representing everybody … But I’ve seen what they do.
Carlson, who is engaged in a protracted dispute with his former network after being taken off air, launched the interview five minutes before the Republican debate aired on Fox.
If that was an attempt to upstage both Trump’s rivals in the 2024 election and Carlson’s ex-employer, then it would appear to have been successful. The interview had more than 80m views on Twitter within two hours of being posted.
Trump says he 'doesn't know' if the US is headed to civil war
Rather than attending the GOP debate, Donald Trump chose to sit down for an interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, which was available on X, formerly known as Twitter, minutes before the debate began.
Trump cited his standing in the polls to justify skipping the debate, mocking his opponents’ struggles to gain momentum in the race.
You see the polls that have come out, and I’m leading by 50 and 60 points and some of them are at one and zero and two. And I’m saying, do I sit there for an hour or two hours or whatever it’s going to be and get harassed by people who shouldn’t even be running for president?
“I just felt it would be more appropriate not to do the debate,” he added.
During his interview with Carlson, Trump suggested the US could see intensifying political violence and described the day of the January 6 2021 insurrection as one of “love and unity”, according to a Washington Post report.
People in that crowd said it was the most beautiful day they ever experienced. There was love and unity. I have never seen such spirit and such passion and such love. And I’ve also never seen, simultaneously and from the same people, such hatred at what they’ve done to our country.
At the conclusion of the 46-minute interview, Carlson asked the former president if he believed the country was moving toward civil war. “Do you think it’s possible that there’s open conflict?” he asked. Trump replied:
I don’t know.
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Republicans spar over post-Roe abortion access in debate
Without the specter of Roe v Wade looming overhead, the eight Republican presidential hopefuls on last night’s debate stage faced a new litmus test on abortion: whether or not they support a nationwide ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The former vice-president Mike Pence, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and South Carolina senator Tim Scott all pledged to support a federal 15-week ban.
The question from the moderator Martha MacCallum had noted that abortion had consistently been a losing issue for Republicans in state ballots since the Dobbs decision.
Nevertheless just one candidate, the North Dakota governor, Doug Burgum, decisively rejected the idea that Congress ought to regulate abortion access. Burgum, who signed North Dakota’s six-week abortion ban in April, said the conservative mission to overturn Roe was predicated on the belief that states should be allowed to set their own rules on the procedure.
What is going to work in New York will never work in North Dakota and vice versa.
For decades, Roe v Wade offered Republican candidates a convenient boogeyman. The supreme court ruling was not just about abortion – swing state conservatives like Burgum could point to Roe as an example of federal overreach.
But Wednesday’s debate signaled a schism in the GOP’s position on abortion.
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Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and Republican presidential candidates, has performed well on Google search traffic since her appearance on the GOP primary debate stage last night, FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver writes.
Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who emerged in the absence of Donald Trump as a surprise focus of the debate, is also likely to rise in the polls as a result of getting more media attention, Silver says.
Ramaswamy still isn't that well-known (~40% of Iowa caucusgoers didn't know enough to have an opinion in the NBC/DMR Iowa caucus poll) and it's fairly likely that he'll rise in the polls just for getting more media attention and that will in turn beget more attention.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) August 24, 2023
Haley also doing well on Google search traffic, which tbh I'd trust as much as anything else as an indicator of who "won". She may begin to get more attention from media and donors in the establishment-Republican-who-actually-has-a-chance? (but lol probably not) lane. pic.twitter.com/2iUupMQdQJ
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) August 24, 2023
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Who are the 18 other defendants charged in the Trump Georgia election case?
The Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, delivered a sweeping indictment earlier this month that charges Donald Trump, along with more than a dozen co-defendants, with 41 counts including racketeering, conspiracy, solicitation and filing false statements.
These are the other defendants charged in the indictment, which alleges a coordinated group effort to pressure Georgia officials into changing the outcome of the 2020 election.
Brian Tevis, an attorney representing Rudy Giuliani in Georgia, said he doesn’t know who paid for the private plane that Giuliani flew on to Atlanta on Wednesday.
Tevis, a Georgia attorney who represented the former New York Mayor and Trump attorney in bond and surrender negotiations with the Fulton County district attorney’s office, refused to discuss his client’s finances during a CNN interview.
He also told Kaitlan Collins it is “very premature to be saying what is the defense going to be” when asked if Giuliani would be using his status as Donald Trump’s lawyer as a defense in the Georgia election subversion case.
Brian Tevis, the Georgia attorney who represented Rudy Giuliani in bond and surrender negotiations, says he doesn't know if he'll continue to represent him in this case and also doesn’t know who paid for that private plane Giuliani took to Georgia. pic.twitter.com/JoWfC4iYLC
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 24, 2023
Nearly an hour into the first Republican debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Fox News hosts Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier asked the eight candidates on the stage whether they would still support Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee if he were convicted of the charges he faces.
Six candidates – North Carolina’s Governor Doug Burgum, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, the former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the former vice-president Mike Pence, the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina’s Senator Tim Scott – indicated they would still support Trump. Only two candidates – the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson – said they would not.
The debate came one day before Trump was expected to surrender to authorities in Fulton county, Georgia, where he has been charged on 13 felony counts related to his efforts to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory in the state. The former president faces 91 total felony counts across four criminal cases.
But a CBS News/YouGov survey compiled last week found that Trump now holds his largest polling lead to date, as he won the support of 62% of likely Republican primary voters. The survey showed Trump beating his next closest competitor, DeSantis, by 46 points, with every other candidate mired in the single digits.
With such stalwart support for Trump among the Republican base, it remains unclear how any of the participants in the Monday debate could capture the nomination. The electoral threat of nominating a twice-impeached former president, who now faces nearly 100 criminal charges, did not escape the attention of at least one debate participant.
“We have to face the fact that Trump is the most disliked politician in America,” Haley said. “We can’t win a general election that way.”
Trump supporters gather outside Fulton county jail
Supporters of Donald Trump are beginning to gather near the Fulton county jail in Atlanta, where the former president is expected to appear later today to surrender to authorities in connection with his attempts to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur running third in Republican polling, emerged in the absence of Donald Trump as a surprise focus of the first debate of the Republican primary, showing scant respect for other candidates and drawing heavy fire in return.
“We live in a dark moment,” Ramaswamy declaimed, in the distinctly Trumpian and conspiratorial fashion that has become a hallmark of his campaign.
Ramaswamy’s bid for the Republican nomination has been hit by recent scandals over remarks that suggested sympathy for conspiracy theories around the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the January 6 assault on the Capitol. But he has sought to portray himself as a Trump-like outsider taking on the establishment with his extreme views.
All the other presidential candidates onstage in Milwaukee, Ramaswamy repeatedly said, were “bought and paid for” by donors.
After all eight candidates declined to raise their hands when asked if they believed human behavior was causing the climate crisis, Ramaswamy jumped in, stridently rapping out:
Unlock American energy, drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear.
Amid exchanges on crime, Ramaswamy attacked the former vice-president Mike Pence, seeming even to doubt a Republican saint, Ronald Reagan, when he said: “Some others like you on this stage may have an, ‘It’s morning in America speech.’ It is not morning in America.
We live in a dark moment and we have to confront the fact that we’re in an internal sort of cold cultural civil war and we have to recognise that.
Ron DeSantis, second to Trump for months but widely seen to be struggling, stood centre stage. But the rightwing Florida governor was often reduced to an onlooker as Ramaswamy threw rhetorical punches and others hit him back, making him a frequent center of the debate.
Read the full report by Martin Pengelly here.
In a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll, 35% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they think the climate change is a major factor in the extreme heat that the US has experienced recently, compared with 85% of those who lean Democratic. Overall, nearly two-thirds of Americans who experienced extremely hot days said climate change was a major factor.
Young Republican voters, however, seem increasingly concerned about the climate crisis. A 2022 Pew poll found that 73% of Republicans aged 18-39 thought climate change was an extremely/very or somewhat serious issue.
Meanwhile, the rightwing groups have been working to boost the fossil fuel industry while undermining the energy transition. Project 2025, a $22m endeavor by the climate-denying thinktank the Heritage Foundation, has developed a presidential proposal that lays out how a Republican president could dismantle US climate policy within their first 180 days in office.
The GOP candidates who’ve held public office have already given voters a glimpse of how they might approach the climate crisis. The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, has supported projects to build sea walls and improve drainage systems as Florida faces increasingly powerful hurricanes and storm surges, as well as threats from sea level rise. But he has refused to acknowledge the role of global heating on these disasters, scoffing at the “politicization of the weather” and pushing bills banning Florida cities from adopting 100% clean energy goals. He also barred the state’s pension fund from considering the climate crisis when making investment decisions.
Donald Trump, who did not attend the debate, has done even more to impede climate action. As president, he rolled back nearly 100 climate regulations, according a New York Times tally.
Among the candidates who do support doing anything about the climate crisis, most think that thing should be carbon capture. Nikki Haley, who as US ambassador to the United Nations helped orchestrated the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement, has presented carbon capture technologies and tree planting as a way to keep burning fossil fuels while slowing the climate crisis.
The consensus among climate scientists is that while such technologies could be a tool in fighting global heating, an overreliance on them could cause the world to surpass climate tipping points.
Unlike in recent election cycles, most Republican presidential hopefuls this time around didn’t flat out deny that the climate crisis is real. But on the Fox News debate stage, they made clear that they’re not interested in dwelling on the issues – or doing much about it.
On Tuesday night, the eight candidates were asked to raise their hands if they believed in the reality of human-caused global heating. They all punted.
holy shit. Moderators ask for a show of hands of how many candidates believe in human-caused climate change. Not a single candidate raises their hand. pic.twitter.com/Oi5IY8nAQ5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 24, 2023
The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, immediately derailed efforts to elicit a clear yes or no response. “Let’s have this debate,” he said, before proceeding not to have it at all, instead criticising Joe Biden’s response to the fires in Maui.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, was notably the only candidate to full-throatedly deny climate science, making the unsubstantiated claim that “more people are dying due to bad climate change policies than they are due to actual climate change”.
There’s no discernible trend of deaths linked to policies encouraging renewable energy. However, extreme heat – fueled by the climate crisis – killed about 1,500 people last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records. Researchers estimate that the true figure is closer to 10,000 people every year.
Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, on the other hand, said “climate change is real” but then pushed off all responsibility to take care of it on India and China. Both those countries have lower per capita carbon emissions than the US. And as of the latest figures, from 2021, no country had emitted more carbon dioxide since 1850 than the US.
The South Carolina senator Tim Scott didn’t offer much in terms of solutions earlier, pointing a finger at the continent of Africa, as well as India and China. Africa accounts for one-fifth of the world’s population and produces about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Energy Association, while disproportionately experiencing the consequences of climate chaos. The US is responsible for about 14% of global emissions.
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Key takeaways from last night's Republican debate
Eight Republicans vying for the party nomination took the debate stage on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, throwing punches over Ukraine, a federal abortion ban and more, hoping to increase their chances at defeating the no-show frontrunner.
Absent was Donald Trump, whose pre-taped interview with the rightwing media personality Tucker Carlson simultaneously published on Twitter, now known as X, and sought to siphon away screen time from the debate housed on Fox News, which famously ousted Carlson earlier this year.
But Trump’s presence loomed over the debate, even as candidates seemed to somewhat hold back from criticizing the ex-president, as Fox debate moderator Bret Baier put it, “the elephant not in the room”.
Here are eight key takeaways from the night:
During the first Republican debate on Wednesday, eight candidates attempted to cast themselves as viable alternatives to Donald Trump while, for the most part, studiously ignoring the shadow of the doggedly popular former president who declined to appear on stage.
The Republicans alternatively railed on government excesses – promising, for example, to slash funding for federal programs – while debating the merits of a federal abortion ban and calling for an increasingly militarized southern border.
The debate was somewhat calmer without belligerent Trump, with the exception of outsider tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who clashed repeatedly with former vice-president Mike Pence, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina. Other than his increasingly aggressive approach to immigration, Ron DeSantis – meant to be Trump’s most likely challenger – remained relatively passive.
The debate opened with a focus on the economy, as Fox News moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum played a clip of the viral conservative folk hit Rich Men North of Richmond, in which country artist Oliver Anthony describes his economic struggles while lamenting poor people “milkin’ welfare”. The candidates launched into a brief discussion of the economy – the first and last point on which they appeared to entirely agree.
On the war in Ukraine, the Republicans diverged sharply in their view of the ideal role of US funding for the Ukrainian military. Ramaswamy, who accused supporters of Ukraine of neglecting “people in Maui or the south side of Chicago”, drew sharp rebuke from Christie, who said that “if we don’t stand up to this kind of autocratic killing, we will be next”, describing in vivid detail Russia’s bloody occupation of Ukraine. Pence echoed Christie’s position, calling Vladimir Putin a “dictator”.
The Republicans also used the discussion of the war in Ukraine to pivot to the topic of immigration, articulating a vision of a militarized southern US border. DeSantis, whose floundering campaign has suffered repeated false steps and who largely hung back during the debate, jumped into the fold on that topic.
When moderator MacCallum introduced the thorny question of abortion, which has energized Democratic voters since Roe v Wade was overturned, the candidates raced to claim their anti-abortion bona fides while splitting over the question of a federal ban.
Read the full report by Alice Herman here.
Updated
What to expect when Trump turns himself in at Fulton county jail
Donald Trump is expected to surrender at the Fulton county jail on Thursday evening on racketeering and conspiracy charges over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
The surrender itself is expected to be mundane. At the Rice Street jail north-west of downtown Atlanta, where defendants charged in Fulton county are typically taken, the booking process involves a mugshot, fingerprinting and having height and weight recorded.
Trump asked his lawyers and the US secret service to get him an exemption from being photographed, according to sources, though it was not clear whether he will get special treatment. The Fulton county sheriff, Patrick Labat, has previously said Trump would be treated no differently.
The other 18 co-defendants in the 2020 election subversion case appear to be receiving regular treatment based on online jail records for the former Trump election lawyer John Eastman and others, who had their height, weight and personal appearance made public.
Once the booking is complete, Trump is expected to be released immediately on conditions that include stringent witness intimidation restrictions that have not been put in place for his co-defendants, court filings show, until he is due back in state court for arraignment.
Some Maga fans are worried that the pro-Donald Trump rally planned for today in Georgia is an FBI setup, according to an NBC report.
On both Truth Social and X, formerly known as Twitter, Trump supporters have allegedly voiced concern that undercover law enforcement officials and antifa activists were behind the protest.
“Watch out for the FBI and antifa/blm to stir up a riot,” one user wrote. Another said: “Be careful, it could be a setup just like the J6.”
The social media posts were highlighted by Advance Democracy, a nonpartisan research organization.
A pro-Trump rally organized by the white nationalist conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer has been planned outside the Fulton county jail where Donald Trump is expected to surrender to authorities later today.
Trump posted about the protest on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, which has been planned for Thursday 10am Eastern time at the jail.
A Florida activist and failed political candidate who once described herself as a “proud Islamophobe”, Loomer received Trump’s endorsement for a Republican House primary in 2020. She has been closely linked to Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist who, with the rapper Ye, controversially dined with Trump last year.
Waking up bright and early tomorrow to drive to Atlanta, Georgia from Florida!! See all of you there in front of the #FultonCountyJail to support President Donald J Trump on Thursday, August 24!
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) August 22, 2023
See details below! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 https://t.co/cuLrJTwkS2
Steven Sadow, who has just been added to Donald Trump’s Georgia legal defense team, is an Atlanta-based attorney whose website profile describes him as a “special counsel for white collar and high profile defense”.
“I have been retained to represent President Trump in the Fulton County, Georgia case,” said Sadow, according to ABC.
The President should never have been indicted. He is innocent of all the charges brought against him. We look forward to the case being dismissed or, if necessary, an unbiased, open minded jury finding the President not guilty. Prosecutions intended to advance or serve the ambitions and careers of political opponents of the President have no place in our justice system.
Donald Trump shakes up legal team ahead of surrender
Donald Trump has shaken up his legal team just hours ahead of his expected surrender to authorities in Fulton county on charges over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
Drew Findling is expected to depart the team and be replaced by Steven Sadow, a veteran criminal defense lawyer, the New York Times reported.
Findling has served as lead attorney for Trump as it relates to the over two-year probe by the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, into efforts by the former president and his allies to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.
Another attorney, Jennifer Little, is expected to remain and work with Sadow, ABC reported.
Updated
Donald Trump to surrender at Fulton county jail as Maga supporters plan Georgia rally
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump is expected to surrender at the Fulton county jail in Atlanta today on racketeering and conspiracy charges over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
“I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED,” the former US president posted on his Truth Social platform earlier this week. The date was set during negotiations between Trump’s lawyers and the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, at her office on Monday.
Trump became a criminal defendant in a fourth case last week when a grand jury handed up a sprawling 41-count indictment that accused Trump and 18 co-defendants of engaging in a criminal enterprise and committing election fraud in trying to reverse his 2020 defeat. He has denied wrongdoing in Georgia and in three other indictments which have produced a total of 91 criminal charges.
On Wednesday, Trump shared a screenshot of a tweet promoting a protest outside the Fulton county jail ahead of his expected surrender. The rally, promoted by the far-right activist Laura Loomer, is expected to begin at 10am Eastern time with attendees encouraged to bring their Trump-related flags, hats, shirts, signs and “love” to support the former president.
Meanwhile, Trump’s shadow loomed large on the first Republican primary debate stage last night in Milwaukee, as eight candidates attempted to cast themselves as viable alternatives to the former president. Despite his absence, they seemed to somewhat hold back from criticizing Trump, as Fox debate moderator Bret Baier put it, “the elephant not in the room”.
