Donald Trump co-defendants begin surrendering

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The first co-defendants in last week’s sweeping election interference indictment out of Fulton County have begun surrendering at the notorious county jail, according to the sheriff’s office website.

A $10,000 bond agreement was reached Monday for Scott Hall, the Atlanta-area bail bondsman who was allegedly involved in commandeering voting information that was the property of Dominion Voting Systems from Coffee County in south Georgia.

Just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Hall surrendered to authorities and was booked and processed on charges that include conspiracy to commit a felony, conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to defraud the state of political subdivision, and Violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

Shortly before 10:30, a.m., Trump attorney John Eastman turned himself in. In a social media statement, Eastman said he was surrendering “to an indictment that should never have been brought.”

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“It represents a crossing of the Rubicon for our country, implicating the fundamental First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances,” Eastman said. “As troubling, it targets attorneys for their zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients, something attorneys are ethically bound to provide and which was attempting here by ‘formally challenging the results of the election through lawful and appropriate means.’ An opportunity never afforded them in the Fulton County Superior Court.”

Eastman, prosecutors say, was deeply involved in some of his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election. He wrote a memo arguing that Trump could remain in power if then-Vice President Mike Pence overturned the results of the election during a joint session of Congress where electoral votes would be counted. That plan included putting in place a slate of “alternate” electors in seven battleground states, including Georgia, who would falsely certify that Trump had won their states.

After leaving the jail on Tuesday, Eastman was asked if he still felt the 2020 election was stolen.

“Absolutely,” he replied, before jumping into a car that whisked him away from the facility.

Cathy Latham, the former chair of the Coffee County Republican Party who is accused of being a fake elector, and former GOP chairman David Shafer, who is also accused of being a fake elector, turned themselves in at the Fulton County Jail in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

On X, formerly Twitter, Shafer set his smiling mugshot as his profile picture on Wednesday morning.

Shafer’s lawyer says he’s immune to prosecution under the supremacy clause, claiming he was just a federal official taking orders from another federal official. But a local law professor says that isn’t true.

“A GOP chair is actually not a government employee, neither political party is part of the government so neither the Democrat or Republican chair is an actual government employee,” said John Acevedo, a professor at the Emory School of Law.

On Monday, bond agreements were reached for five of the 19 co-defendants in last week’s sweeping Fulton County indictment. Former President Donald Trump reached a $200,000 bond agreement and is set to surrender himself on Thursday.

A list of who has surrendered:

• Scott Graham Hall (8/22)
• John Eastman (8/22)
• Cathleen Alston Latham (8/23)
• David Shafer (8/23)

A list of who have reached bond agreements:

• Former President Donald Trump ($200,000)
• John Eastman ($100,000)
• Scott Graham Hall ($10,000)
• Kenneth Chesebro ($100,000)
• Ray Smith III ($50,000)
• State Sen. Shawn Still ($10,000)

• David Shafer ($75,000)
• Cathleen Alston Latham ($75,000)
• Jenna Ellis ($100,000)
• Michael Roman ($50,000)
• Stephen Lee ($75,000)
• Robert Cheeley ($50,000)

This story is developing.

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