Rudy Giuliani among 9 defendants in Georgia election conspiracy case to surrender

Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Rudy Giuliani is among nine defendants who have surrendered so far in Georgia's election subversion case, as a judge on Wednesday rejected former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows' emergency request seeking to avoid arrest by Friday's deadline.

Giuliani, who was one of former President Donald Trump's most outspoken lawyers, surrendered Wednesday at Fulton County jail, where he was booked on 13 charges in the Georgia election subversion case. According to last week's indictment, the former New York mayor is charged with engaging in criminal conspiracies to reverse the state's election results, violating Georgia's racketeering act and soliciting a public officer to break their oath. Giuliani has agreed to a $150,000 bond.

After being booked and posting bond, Giuliani spoke to reporters in a contentious exchange outside the jail, as he said he is being indicted because he is a lawyer.

"If they can do this to me, they can do this to you," Giuliani said Wednesday. "This ridiculous case in which I'm being prosecuted for defending an American citizen who I do as a lawyer, and five other lawyers are indicted. That should tell you right away this is an assault on our Constitution."

Continuing, he said, "Fani Willis will go down in American history as having conducted one of the worst attacks on the American constitution ever, when this case is dismissed. She has violated people's First Amendment right to advocate, the government to petition grievances like an election they believe was poorly conducted or falsely conducted."

As reporters closed-in on Giuliani and shouted questions about whether he had made false statements, he replied "move on" and defended Trump.

"What they are doing to him is an assault on the American Constitution," Giuliani said, adding that he has "every confidence in him."

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will face arrest if he fails to turn himself in to Fulton County authorities by Friday's deadline, after a federal judge rejected his emergency request Wednesday afternoon.

Meadows had asked the federal court to issue an order and block Willis from seeking his arrest by Friday's deadline, instead requesting a one-day extension for an evidentiary hearing scheduled for Monday.

"The hardship facing the defendant is no different than any other criminal defendant charged with a crime, including his co-defendants who have either already surrendered to Fulton County authorities or have agreed to surrender in the time allotted by the District Attorney," Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis office wrote in a response ordered by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones.

Meadows has filed to move the case from the Fulton County Superior Court to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, court records obtained by UPI show.

A federal judge also rejected Jeffrey Clark's request for an emergency stay Wednesday. Clark had argued that the Fulton County case against him should be moved to federal court because he was a federal official during the alleged crimes.

Clark, a former presidential adviser to Trump, also said he did not want to travel to the Fulton County Jail in Georgia.

"The defendant seeks to avoid the inconvenience and unpleasantness of being arrested or subject to the mandatory state criminal process, but provides this court no legal basis to justify those ends," the district attorney's office said in a court filing Wednesday.

"Defendant is wrong on the law, wrong on the facts, and the motion should be denied."

In addition to Giuliani, four other defendants turned themselves in to Fulton County authorities Wednesday, bringing the number of those who have surrendered to nine out of the 19 charged.

Sidney Powell, a former Trump election lawyer, turned herself in Wednesday. According to the indictment, Powell was part of a White House discussion for her to serve as special counsel to "investigate allegations of voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere." Her bond was set at $100,000.

Former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis also surrendered Wednesday to authorities in Fulton County. Her bond is set at $100,000.

Former Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer and alleged fake elector Cathy Latham surrendered Wednesday morning at the Fulton County Jail.

Former President Donald Trump, alleged ringleader of the criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, will have a $200,000 bond and is scheduled to surrender Thursday.

His surrender will come more than two years after a violent pro-Trump mob stormed Congress to disrupt certification of Joe Biden's election and keep Trump in office after he lost the vote but falsely claimed the process was rigged.

As of Wednesday afternoon the following defendants have surrendered:

• Rudy Giuliani, former Trump lawyer, faces 13 counts. His bond is $150,000.
• Sidney Powell, former Trump election lawyer, faces seven counts. Her bond was set at $100,000.
• Jenna Ellis, former Trump campaign lawyer, faces two counts. Her bond is set at $100,000.
• Scott Hall, a Georgia bail bondsman, faces seven counts. His bond was $10,000.
• John Eastman, a conservative lawyer, is charged with nine counts and was freed on a $100,000 bond.
• Cathy Latham, a Republican official, faces 11 counts. Her bond was $75,000.
• David Shafer, the former chairman of the Georgia GOP, is charged with eight counts. His bond was $75,000.
• Kenneth Chesebro, a conservative lawyer, was charged with seven counts. His bond was set for $100,000.
• Ray Smith III, a lawyer for Trump's re-election campaign, faces 12 charges. His bond was $50,000.

Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted Aug. 14 for an alleged criminal racketeering conspiracy to "unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump."

It is the fourth criminal indictment against Trump this year.

Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall and attorney John Eastman on Tuesday became the first of Trump's 18 co-defendants to surrender on state charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Georgia.

Latham, former chairwoman of the Republican Party in Coffee County, Ga., faces a dozen charges related to her alleged role as a phantom elector in the conspiracy.

In court papers filed Monday, Shafer claimed he and the other Republican electors who tried to falsely certify Trump as the winner in Georgia had acted on orders from the former president.

Shafer is one of 16 Republican electors accused of meeting a month after the 2020 election at the Capitol in Atlanta and signing a document that falsely declared Trump the winner in Georgia.

Also among them was Latham, who is accused of a litany of crimes -- including racketeering, conspiracy to defraud the state, impersonating a public officer, forgery, criminal attempt to file false documents and false statements and writings.

She also was charged with conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer theft and two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud.

According to court documents, Latham hired forensic experts a month after the election to come in and inspect the computers at Coffee election headquarters, where sensitive personal data and election files were compromised in a futile attempt to prove election fraud.