A former lawyer for Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, called Wednesday August 23, 2023 in Georgia an “attack on the Constitution” his indictment by the authorities of this state in the south-east of the country for his attempts to reverse the result of the 2020 election.
“This charge is a travesty” of justice, Mr. Giuliani said on his release from Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, the state capital, where he officially gave himself up before leaving on bail.
“This is an attack not only on me and on President Trump, but on the American people,” he told the dozens of reporters who jostled for questioning in the searing heat, in a tangle of microphones. and cables.
County Attorney Fani Willis will go down in American history as the one who carried out one of the worst attacks on the American Constitution,” he added.
The defense of the former American president and several defendants argues that the prosecutions against them amount to “criminalizing” freedom of expression in electoral disputes.
A grand jury (panel of citizens with investigative powers) appointed by the prosecutor on August 14 indicted Mr. Trump and 18 others for their alleged wrongful attempts to reverse the result of the won 2020 election. in this key state by current Democratic President Joe Biden.
They are prosecuted under a law on organized crime which provides for sentences of five to twenty years in prison.
Fingerprints and “mugshot”
The 19 defendants have until Friday at noon (4 p.m. GMT) to make themselves available to the authorities by reporting to Fulton prison to have their fingerprints, mugshot or mugshot taken. .
In total, nine of them, including the constitutionalist John Eastman, or the conservative lawyer Sidney Powell, submitted to this procedure which also provides for the recording in the archives of the penitentiary administration of the height, weight, each person’s skin and eye color.
Mr. Trump, big favorite in the Republican primaries for the 2024 presidential election, announced that he would do so on Thursday, reluctantly, denouncing “electoral interference”.
He 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.
Outside Fulton prison, someone was waving a huge Trump 2024 flag, while a man in a striped prisoner’s uniform held up a sign calling for the former president to be “incarcerated”, according to AFP journalists.
After Mr. Giuliani arrived in Atlanta from New York, where he was the emblematic mayor, his lawyers went to court for a hearing on the amount of his bail, which was set by the judge at 150,000 dollars.
“A ‘mugshot’ for the man who probably put the worst criminals of the 20th century in prison”, Rudy Giuliani had gritted earlier when he left his home in New York where he was also a federal prosecutor and led a fight antimafia.
“They’re going to dishonor themselves by mugshotting me,” he added in a statement on CNN.
Two co-defendants surrendered
The day before, two co-defendants of former US President Donald Trump had already surrendered to the authorities of this state in the south-east of the United States, according to the prison administration.
Constitutional lawyer John Eastman and Scott Hall, targeted by nine and seven counts respectively, gave themselves up on Tuesday, according to the website of the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, the state capital. Both have previously agreed with the authorities on the payment of a deposit.
A total of 10 of the 19 defendants had reached bail agreements on Tuesday, ranging from $10,000 to $200,000 for Donald Trump, according to court documents.
Posting bail allows defendants to escape pre-trial detention, provided they are not breaking any law, refraining from threats, and not communicating with each other or witnesses except through the intermediary of their lawyers.
“I am confident that, if the law is faithfully followed in this proceeding, all of my co-defendants and I will be completely cleared,” Mr. Eastman told reporters upon his release.
Asked if he still believed the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump for current Democratic President Joe Biden, he replied, “Absolutely.”
In the indictment in Georgia, as in the case brought to the federal level in Washington by special prosecutor Jack Smith, Mr. Eastman stands out for his unsuccessful efforts to get Vice President Mike Pence out of his role. purely ceremonial certification of the election by interfering with the proclamation of the winner.
2023-08-23 21:28:31
#UNITED #STATES #Indicted #Georgia #Rudy #Giuliani #denounces #attack #Constitution
