21 August 2023 , 21:23
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Donald Trump’s bond has been set at $200,000 (£157,000) in the Georgia case accusing the former president of illegally scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss, according to court papers filed Monday.
The bond agreement, outlined in a document signed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Trump’s defense attorneys, also bars Trump from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case — including on social media.
The order says Trump cannot make any “direct or indirect threat of any nature” against witnesses or co-defendants. It explicitly includes “posts on social media or reposts of posts made by another individual on social media.”
He is also prohibited from communicating in any way about the facts of the case with any co-defendant or witness, except through attorneys.
The order sets Trump’s bond for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations — or RICO — charge at $80,000 (£62,700), and adds $10,000 (£7,840) for each of the 12 other counts he is facing.
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Trump is escorted into the courtroom (AP)Willis has set a deadline of noon Friday for Trump and his 18 co-defendants to turn themselves in at the Fulton County Jail to be booked.
Trump was charged last week in the case alongside allies who prosecutors say conspired to subvert the will of voters in a desperate bid to keep the Republican in the White House after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He has been railing against the case since before he was indicted and singled out Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who rebuffed his efforts to overturn the election, by name in a social media post as recently as Monday morning.
Willis has proposed that arraignments for the defendants happen the week of Sept. 5. and that the case go to trial in March.
Trump shows his face at the Iowa State Fair (AP)Bond was also set Monday for three lawyers who were indicted along with Trump. For each of them, the bond for the RICO charge was set at $20,000 (£15,500), with varying amounts for the other charges they face. John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro each had a bond set at $100,000 (£78,000), while Ray Smith’s bond is $50,000 (£39,000).
Bail bondsman Scott Hall, who was accused of participating in a breach of election equipment in rural Coffee County, had his bond set at $10,000 (£7,840).
It’s the fourth criminal case against the former president, who is campaigning to reclaim the White House in 2024.