Tag: US Elections 2020

Georgia mugshots: Trump and all 18 co-defendants surrender in election case

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Former US President Donald Trump and all 18 of his co-defendants in Georgia’s election interference case have turned themselves in to face charges, meeting a deadline for their surrender.

Each of the nineteen defendants, including Trump, presented themselves to the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta by the noon deadline on Friday (16:00 GMT).

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who filed the indictment against the ex-president and his allies earlier this month, had said an arrest warrant would have been issued for anyone who did not comply.

Georgia prosecutors have accused Trump and his co-defendants of joining a conspiracy to “unlawfully change the outcome” of the 2020 United States election in the state. They have denied wrongdoing.

All except one of those charged had previously negotiated a bond agreement before arriving at the jail this week and were immediately released after paying a percentage of their bond, and having their fingerprints and mugshots taken.

Willis has requested that arraignments – the court hearings where the accused will formally hear the charges against them and enter a plea – in the case take place on the week of September 5.

Here’s where things stand for the defendants:

Donald Trump

Trump is the first ex-president to have his mugshot taken [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via Reuters]

Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination race, turned himself in at the Fulton County jail at approximately 7:30pm (23:30 GMT) on Thursday.

He spent about 20 minutes inside the facility – becoming the first former president in US history to have his mugshot taken – before being released on $200,000 bond.

He faces 13 charges in the case, including racketeering, soliciting a public official to violate their oath of office, filing false statements, conspiracy to commit forgery and conspiracy to impersonate a public officer.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and accused Georgia prosecutors of seeking to derail his re-election campaign.

Rudy Giuliani

Giuliani previously served as Trump’s personal lawyer [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via AP Photo]

The former mayor of New York City, who also previously served as Trump’s personal lawyer, Giuliani faces the same number of charges as Trump – more than any other co-defendant.

Prosecutors have accused Giuliani of spearheading the effort in Georgia by making false statements and soliciting false testimony, conspiring to create phoney paperwork, and asking state lawmakers to violate their oath of office.

He has denied any wrongdoing. He surrendered on Wednesday and was released on $150,000 bond.

Mark Meadows

Meadows served as Trump’s White House chief of staff [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via Reuters]

Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Meadows – like all the co-defendants – has been charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, also known as RICO.

He also has been charged with soliciting a public officer to violate their oath of office.

Meadows surrendered on Thursday and was released on $100,000 bond.

John Eastman

Eastman is the former dean of Chapman University Law School [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP Photo]

Eastman, a conservative lawyer, was widely considered the legal architect of the nationwide effort to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election that he lost to President Joe Biden.

The former dean of Chapman University Law School in Southern California turned himself in on Tuesday and was booked on nine charges.

“I am here today to surrender to an indictment that should never have been brought,” Eastman said in a statement released through his lawyers before his surrender. “I am confident that, when the law is faithfully applied in this proceeding, all of my co-defendants and I will be fully vindicated.”

He was released on $100,000 bond.

Kenneth Chesebro

Chesebro has requested a ‘speedy trial’ [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP Photo]

A lawyer who worked with the Trump campaign, Chesebro is accused of supporting a plan in Georgia and other states to manipulate the election process in order to delay the certification of Biden’s 2020 victory.

So far, Chesebro has been the only defendant to ask for a “speedy trial” and a judge approved that request this week, setting an October 23 start date.

Several defendants have since sought to “sever” their case from Chesebro’s, saying the timing was too soon.

Chesebro surrendered on Wednesday and was released on $100,000 bond.

Jeffrey Clark

Clark, a former Justice Department official, was released on $100,000 bond [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via Reuters]

The former US Department of Justice official is accused of trying to use his position to shepherd through a plan to overturn the 2020 election results.

He surrendered on Friday on two charges – racketeering and committing false statements and writings – and was released on $100,000 bond.

Jenna Ellis

Ellis turned herself in on August 23, 2023 [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP Photo]

The Trump lawyer was charged with racketeering and soliciting a public official to violate their oath of office.

She turned herself in on Wednesday and released on $100,000 bond.

Robert Cheeley

Cheeley is a Georgia trial lawyer [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP]

The Georgia trial lawyer participated in public hearings with state legislators, where he pushed the false election fraud narrative and presented false evidence to support the claims, prosecutors have alleged.

Cheeley was hit with 10 charges, including perjury.

He turned himself in on Friday and was released on $50,000 bond.

Mike Roman

The Trump campaign official was hit with seven charges.

He turned himself in on Friday, with his bail set at $50,000.

A mug shot for Roman has not yet been released.

David Shafer

Shafer is the former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP Photo]

The former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party was set to serve as a so-called “fake elector” in the plot to undermine the Georgia election results, according to the indictment.

After surrendering on Wednesday and being released on $75,000 bond, he proudly made his mugshot his profile picture on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

Shawn Still

Still is a current Georgia state senator [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP]

A Georgia state senator, Still was also set to be a “fake elector” in the scheme, according to prosecutors, and had signed paperwork saying Trump was the winner of the 2020 vote.

He was hit with seven charges and surrendered early on Friday. He was released on $10,000 bond.

Stephen Lee

The Lutheran pastor has been accused of helping to pressure an election worker to falsely admit to fraud.

Facing five charges, he was the last defendant to turn himself in on Friday.

His mugshot has not yet been released.

Harrison Floyd

Harrison Floyd’s mugshot [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP]

Floyd, a former marine and leader of “Black Voices for Trump”, was charged in connection with efforts to intimidate an election worker into falsely admitting to voter fraud.

Floyd had previously been arrested for assaulting an FBI agent in Maryland.

He was the only defendant to not be immediately released upon turning himself in on Thursday.

Trevian Kutti

Kutti, a Chicago-based publicist, previously worked with Kanye West [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP Photo]

The Chicago-based publicist, who previously worked with Kanye West, surrendered on Thursday.

Kutti faces three charges, with prosecutors saying she intimidated an election worker. Her bond was set at $75,000.

Sidney Powell

Powell was Trump’s 2020 campaign lawyer [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP]

Powell, Trump’s 2020 campaign lawyer, was the face of the former president’s post-election misinformation campaign.

She faces seven charges in Georgia, in part connected to a voting systems breach in Coffee County, southeast of Atlanta.

She surrendered on Wednesday and was released on $100,000 bond.

Cathy Latham

Latham is accused of being part of the ‘fake elector’ scheme [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via Reuters]

Latham was another so-called “fake elector” in Georgia, according to prosecutors.

Her 11 charges are also connected to the alleged breach in Coffee County, where she previously served as county chair of the Republican Party.

She surrendered on Wednesday and was released on $75,000 bond.

Scott Hall

Hall, an Atlanta bail bondsman, was the first to surrender this week [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP Photo]

On Tuesday, bail bondsman Hall became the first defendant to surrender.

He faces seven charges, including some connected to accusations he helped breached a Coffee County voting machine.

He was released on $10,000 bond.

Misty Hampton

Hampton was a former election supervisor in Coffee County [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP Photo]

The former election supervisor of Coffee County, Hampton faces seven charges connected to accusations she helped to breach voting systems.

She surrendered early Friday and was released on $10,000 bond.

Ray Smith

Smith was another Trump campaign lawyer [Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP]

The Trump campaign lawyer has been hit with 12 charges related to his testimony to Georgia legislators.

He surrendered on Wednesday and was released on $50,000 bond.

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August 25, 2023
Proud Boys did not ‘stand back, stand by’ on Jan 6: US prosecutor

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Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants charged with seditious conspiracy in the Capitol attack “took aim at the heart” of United States democracy on January 6, 2021, a federal prosecutor told jurors as their high-profile trial opened in Washington.

Jurors began hearing opening statements on Thursday, more than two years after members of the far-right group joined a pro-Donald Trump mob in attacking the Capitol.

Assistant US Attorney Jason McCullough said the Proud Boys knew that the prospects of a second term in office for Trump were quickly fading as January 6 approached. So the group leaders assembled a “fighting force” to stop the transfer of power to Joe Biden, McCullough said.

Tarrio saw a Biden presidency as a “threat to the Proud Boys’ existence”, the prosecutor said.

“These men did not stand back. They did not stand by. Instead, they mobilised,” McCullough told jurors, invoking the words of Trump when he infamously told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during a 2020 presidential debate with Joe Biden.

The trial came on the heels of the seditious conspiracy convictions of two leaders of the Oath Keepers, another US far-right group. Several other Oath Keepers members were charged with plotting to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Trump to Biden.

The case against Tarrio and his four associates is one of the most consequential to emerge from the January 6 riot at the Capitol. The trial will provide an in-depth look at a group that has become an influential force in mainstream Republican politics.

Defence lawyers have said there was never any plan to go into the Capitol or stop Congress’s certification of the electoral vote won by Biden.

“Over and over and over and over the government has been told by witnesses there was no plan for January 6,” said Nicholas Smith, lawyer for Ethan Nordean, a Proud Boys chapter president from Auburn, Washington. Nordean went into the Capitol looking for friends and did not damage anything or hurt anyone there, he said.

The defence has also accused prosecutors of trying to silence potential defense witnesses. Tarrio’s lawyers have not said whether he will take the stand in his defence.

Tarrio’s other co-defendants are Joseph Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, a self-described Proud Boys organiser; Zachary Rehl, who was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia; and Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boy member from Rochester, New York.

The Department of Justice has charged nearly 1,000 people across the US in relation to the deadly January 6 riot, and its investigation has continued to grow.

The Proud Boys’ trial is the first major trial to begin since the House committee investigating the insurrection urged the department to bring criminal charges against Trump and associates who were behind his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

While the criminal referral has no real legal standing, it added to political pressure already on Attorney General Merrick Garland and the special counsel he appointed, Jack Smith, who was conducting an investigation into January 6 and Trump’s actions.

Jury selection in the case took two weeks as a slew of potential jurors said they associated the Proud Boys with hate groups or white nationalism.

The Capitol could be seen in the distance from parts of the court, where a second group of Oath Keepers were also on trial for seditious conspiracy, which carries up to 20 years behind bars upon conviction.

Tensions bubbled over at times as jury selection slowed to a crawl and defence lawyers complained that too many potential jurors were biased against the Proud Boys.

Defence lawyers challenged jurors who expressed support for causes such as Black Lives Matter, saying that could indicate prejudice against the Proud Boys.

Lawyers and the judge clashed during sometimes chaotic pretrial legal wrangling to the point where two defence lawyers threatened to withdraw from the case. US District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, lashed out after defence lawyers repeatedly interrupted and talked over him on Wednesday, warning that he would find them in contempt if it continued.

Tarrio, who is from Miami, was not in Washington on January 6 because he was arrested two days before the riot and charged with vandalising a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during a protest in December 2020. He was ordered to leave the capital, but prosecutors said he remained engaged in the far-right group’s planning for January 6.

Prosecutors were expected to tell jurors that as the Proud Boys’ anger about the election grew, they also began to turn against police over Tarrio’s arrest and over the failure to bring charges in the stabbing of another Proud Boy during clashes the month before the riot.

Communications cited in court papers show the Proud Boys discussing storming the Capitol in the days before the riot. On January 3, someone suggested in a group chat that the “main operating theater” be in front of the Capitol. “I didn’t hear this voice note until now, you want to storm the Capitol,” Tarrio said the next day in the same chat.

Tarrio’s lieutenants were part of the first wave of rioters to push onto Capitol grounds and charge past police barricades towards the building, according to prosecutors. Pezzola used a riot shield he stole from a Capitol Police officer to break a window, allowing the first rioters to enter the building, prosecutors alleged.

Prosecutors said Tarrio cheered on the actions of the Proud Boys on the ground as he watched from afar. “Do what must be done. #WeThePeople.” he wrote on social media as the riot unfolded. “Don’t [expletive] leave,” Tarrio wrote in another post.

Flyers referring to former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, August 5, 2022 [File: Shelby Tauber/Reuters]

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January 12, 2023
Republican committee in US sues Google over email spam filters

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The Republican National Committee accuses Gmail of ‘discriminating’ against it by unfairly sending its emails to users’ spam folders, impacting fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has filed a lawsuit against tech giant Google, alleging the company has been suppressing its email solicitations ahead of November’s midterm elections – an allegation Google denies.

The lawsuit, filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of California, accuses Gmail of “discriminating” against the committee by unfairly sending the group’s emails to users’ spam folders, impacting both fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts in pivotal swing states.

“Enough is enough — we are suing Google for their blatant bias against Republicans,” committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement to The Associated Press. “For ten months in a row, Google has sent crucial end-of-month Republican GOTV and fundraising emails to spam with zero explanation. We are committed to putting an end to this clear pattern of bias.”

Google, in a statement, denied the charges. “As we have repeatedly said, we simply don’t filter emails based on political affiliation. Gmail’s spam filters reflect users’ actions,” spokesman José Castañeda said, adding that the company provides training and guidelines to campaigns and works to “maximize email deliverability while minimizing unwanted spam.”

Google’s ‘censorship’

The lawsuit, filed on Friday evening, focuses on how Google’s Gmail, the world’s largest email service with about 1.5 billion users, screens solicitations and other material to help prevent users from being inundated by junk mail. To filter material that account holders may not want in their inboxes, Google and other major email providers create programmes that flag communications likely to be perceived as unwelcome and move them to spam folders that are rarely, if ever, perused by recipients.

The suit says Google has “relegated millions of RNC emails en masse to potential donors’ and supporters’ spam folders during pivotal points in election fundraising and community building” — particularly at the end of each month when political groups tend to send more messages.

“It doesn’t matter whether the email is about donating, voting, or community outreach. And it doesn’t matter whether the emails are sent to people who requested them,” it reads.

Google contends its algorithms are designated to be neutral, but a study released in March by North Carolina State University found that Gmail was far more likely to block messages from conservative causes. The study, based on emails sent during the US presidential campaign in 2020, estimated Gmail placed roughly 10 percent of emails from left-wing candidates into spam folders while marking 77 percent from right-wing candidates as spam.

Gmail rivals Yahoo and Microsoft’s Outlook were more likely to favour pitches from conservative causes than Gmail, the study found.

The RNC seized upon that study in April to call upon the Federal Election Commission to investigate Google’s “censorship” of its fundraising efforts, which it alleged amounted to an in-kind contribution to Democratic candidates and served as “a financially devastating example of Silicon Valley tech companies unfairly shaping the political playing field to benefit their preferred far-left candidates”.

Since then, the commission has approved a pilot programme that creates a way for political committees to get around spam filters so their fundraising emails find their way into recipients’ primary inboxes.

Gmail is participating in the Verified Sender Program, which allows senders to bypasses traditional spam filters, but also gives users the option of unsubscribing from a sender. If the unsubscribe button is hit, a sender is supposed to remove that Gmail address from their distribution lists.

The RNC had not signed up to participate in the pilot programme before it filed the lawsuit.

Republicans who have tried to cast doubt on the outcome of the 2020 election without parroting the most extreme and baseless claims about corrupted voting machines and stolen votes have often tried to blame big technology companies like Twitter and Facebook. They accuse them of bias against former President Donald Trump.

A long list of state and local election officials, courts and members of Trump’s own administration have said there is no evidence of the mass fraud Trump alleges.

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October 24, 2022