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Well, we finally got the mugshot for which so many people were waiting.
On Thursday, former President Donald Trump surrendered himself to an Atlanta jail on charges that he illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Trump was charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis with 13 charges including conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, and violation of the Georgia RICO Act, among other allegations.
His bond was set at $200,000 and, following his release, Trump returned to the airport for a flight to New Jersey where he made a brief comment on the process.
As part of his surrendering, Trump’s mugshot was taken and he was booked as an inmate. The photo provided by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office took the internet by storm.
It is already being sold on coffee mugs, t-shirts, and the like. But perhaps the most surprising share was from the former President himself.
Trump on Thursday took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to post the mugshot with the caption “ELECTION INTERFERENCE NEVER SURRENDER! DONALDJTRUMP.COM.” The former president hadn’t posted anything on this account since he was banned from it shortly following the January 6th riots.
https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023
Of course, Trump wasn’t the only figure in the case to surrender that day. His former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, also went through the booking process and was released on a $100,000 bond.
Reactions to the overall indictment have been circulating for a while now, but some Congressional Republicans are looking into the situation.
On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to Willis, demanding information and any communications with the Department of Justice and Executive Branch. Jordan believes that the timing of Willis’ prosecution “reinforces concerns about” political motivations.
The letter is part of a grander inquiry into possible collaboration between the Fulton County DA’s office and federal offices to purposefully go after former President Trump and his team.
Reactions from the White House, however, have been less explicit. In fact, President Joe Biden and his team have been virtually silent on the matter as of late. At the same time that former President Trump landed in Atlanta, President Biden’s team announced a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and asked for campaign donations.
But the question remains as to how this indictment, and the three others that Trump faces, looks to voters. While Republicans have been rallying behind him, often placing his favorability above the other GOP candidates, the potential of a conviction could change that story.
A new Yahoo/YouGov poll shows that a convicted Donald Trump would lose almost 20% support from the Republican base in favor of other Republican candidates. Oddly enough, Trump still leads the other candidates even in the event of conviction, but the margin of that lead shrinks a considerable amount.