2020 US polls case: Trump, 18 others to be arraigned on September 6

Former US President Donald Trump is scheduled to be arraigned next week for allegedly participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The 18 other people, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who have been indicted along with him in Georgia, are also scheduled to be arraigned on September 6.

Trump will start off the day with a hearing at 9.30 am, with the other arraignments following.

The defendants may enter pleas, according to court records. Notices posted on Monday (August 28) by Fulton County court officials said the defendants “must be present” and that face masks must be worn when entering the courthouse.

A Trump spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a question for comment, reported news agency AP.

The defendants met the Friday (August 25) deadline to turn themselves in at the Fulton County Jail. Trump was booked on Thursday evening. He was caught scowling at the camera in the first-ever mug shot of a former president.

The one without bond

All but one of the 19 accused agreed to a bond amount and conditions with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ahead of time, and they were free to go after booking.

Only Harrison William Prescott Floyd, who has been accused of harassing a Fulton County election worker, did not negotiate a bond ahead of time and remained in jail after turning himself in on Thursday.

Court records show Floyd, a former US Marine who’s active with the group Black Voices for Trump, was arrested three months ago as well for allegedly aggressively confronting two FBI agents sent to serve him with a grand jury subpoena.

An attorney for Floyd, Todd A Harding, noted in a court filing on Monday that his client was the only African American man among the defendants and the only one without bond. Harding asked a judge to set a “reasonable bond” for his client at a bond hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Attorney Willis, who used Georgia’s racketeering law to bring the case, alleged that the defendants participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally try to keep the Republican president in power even after his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Former chief of staff Meadows is seeking to fight the Georgia indictment in federal court. A hearing on transferring his case there from state court was held on Monday. At least four others charged in the indictment are also seeking to move the case to federal court, including US Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark.

(With agency inputs)