Trump surrenders at Fulton County jail in Georgia election subversion case

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Former US President Donald Trump turned himself in to Fulton County authorities Thursday to be booked on charges tied to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.

He faces 13 criminal counts, including violations of the Georgia state RICO Act, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer and conspiracy to commit false statements.

Trump, like 18 other individuals indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis earlier this month, faced a Friday deadline to surrender or be served with an arrest warrant.

Former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell turned themselves in on Wednesday.

All of the co-defendants are accused of being part of a criminal conspiracy that sought to illegally manipulate Georgia and other states' election results with the intent of keeping Trump in power.

Trump has now been indicted four times in state and federal courts since he left office. The charges range from hush money payments to an adult film star, efforts to overturn national election results, unlawful retention of classified documents and efforts to prevent investigators from completing their duties.

Willis' probe was sparked by a Jan. 2, 2021 phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he urged the senior state official to "find 11,780 votes,” the number he would have needed to win the battleground state. A recording of the call was later leaked to the media.

The investigation went on to include a probe of fake local electors who attempted to certify fraudulent election results in Trump's favor.