Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani surrenders in Georgia election case

Rudy Giuliani surrendered to authorities in Georgia on Wednesday on charges alleging he acted as former U.S. president Donald Trump's chief co-conspirator in a plot to subvert the 2020 election.

The former New York City mayor, celebrated as "America's mayor" for his leadership after 9/11, is charged with Trump and 17 other people under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

His bond has been set at $150,000 US, second only to Trump's $200,000 US.

Giuliani, 79, is accused of spearheading Trump's efforts to compel state lawmakers in Georgia and other closely contested states to ignore the will of voters and illegally appoint electoral college electors favourable to Trump.

Georgia was one of several key states Trump lost by slim margins, prompting the Republican and his allies to proclaim, without evidence, that the election was rigged in favour of his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Giuliani is charged with making false statements and soliciting false testimony, conspiring to create phony paperwork and asking state lawmakers to violate their oath of office to appoint an alternativeslate of pro-Trump electors. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said that, if convicted, Giuliani will be sentenced to prison.

Outside the Fulton County Jail Wednesday afternoon, Giuliani laughed when asked if he regretted allying with Trump.

"I am very, very honoured to be involved in this case because this case is a fight for our way of life," Giuliani told reporters. "This indictment is a travesty. It's an attack on not just me, not just President Trump, not just the people in this indictment, some of whom I don't even know. This is an attack on the American people."

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22:47Rudy Giuliani: from RICO prosecutor to RICO defendant

Judge rejects bid by Meadows, Clark

After Giuliani's surrender, Trump repeated his unfounded claims that the election was rigged and stolen and wrote on his social media site, "The greatest Mayor in the history of New York City was just ARRESTED in Atlanta, Georgia, because he fought for Election Integrity."

Trump, the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, has said he plans to turn himself in at the Fulton County Jail on Thursday.He and his allies have characterized the investigation as politically motivated and have heavily criticizedWillis, a Democrat.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark are both trying to have the case against them heard in federal court rather than in Fulton County Superior Court. Both argue the actions that gave rise to the charges in the indictment were related to their work as federal officials and that the case should be moved to federal court and the charges against them dismissed. They had each asked a judge to allow them to avoid being arrested while those requests are pending.

But U.S. District Judge Steve Jones on Wednesday rejected their requests to avoid having to be booked in jail while they fight to move the case.

Attorney Sidney Powell, who played a leading role in promoting Trump's false fraud claims, was also booked at the jail on Wednesday, as wasJenna Ellis, an attorney whom prosecutors say was involved in efforts to convince state lawmakers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors

Trump campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro, indicted for allegedly helping to devise a plan to submit fake slates of electors for Trump to obstruct the congressional certification, turned himself in at the Fulton County sheriff's office on Wednesday, jail records showed.

Ray Smith, a lawyer who previously represented Trump in Georgia, also surrendered Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Trump's former lawyer John Eastman and Republican poll watcher Scott Hall surrendered while former Georgia Republican Party leaders Cathy Latham and David Shafer were booked overnight, according to the jail.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to two sets of federal criminal charges brought by Jack Smith, a special counsel named by Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, concerning the efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and his possession of classified documents after leaving office. Trump also pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan case involving hush money paid before the 2016 election to a porn star.