Here’s when Trump, his allies must surrender by in Fulton County

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said former President Donald Trump and 18 others charged alongside him have nearly two weeks to surrender.

“I am giving the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon on Friday, the 25th day of August 2023,” Willis said in a news conference shortly before midnight Monday. A press release by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said all 19 defendants will be booked into the Rice Street Jail.

FULL COVERAGE OF DONALD TRUMP/GEORGIA INVESTIGATION

Willis said she plans to try all 19 defendants together. She said she will ask for a trial to start within six months but added that scheduling decisions will be made by a judge.

She said the defendants are charged with conspiring to allow Trump “to seize the presidential term of office beginning on Jan. 20, 2021.”

READ | Former President Donald Trump’s indictment in Fulton County

Even with charges being issued, defendants still have the opportunity to strike deals with Willis before a trial even begins, said Clark Cunningham, a law professor with Georgia State University.

“Part of the key to a RICO case is you work up the food chain,” he said. “You start at the bottom, and you flip people. Some of those indicted co-conspirators, they’re looking at a minimum of five years. I think they’re going to be talking to the district attorney about cooperating.”

Willis was quick to note on Monday evening that all defendants are presumed innocent. She also rejected the idea that the charges — coming right on the cusp of an election cycle — are political.

“I make decisions in this office based on the facts and the law,” she said. “The law is completely nonpartisan. That’s how decisions are made in every case.”