John Eastman among those who surrendered in Georgia election interference case

(ATLANTA) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to surrender at the Fulton County Jail on Wednesday, multiple sources told ABC News. Lawyers for Giuliani will be meeting with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office early Wednesday to finalize a bond package before a surrender in the Georgia election interference racketeering case.

Giuliani, according to sources, has secured local counsel but is expected to be joined by his longtime friend and former NYC Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, who is assisting him through the process.

Attorney John Eastman was booked and released on bail Tuesday at the Fulton County Jail, as some of the 18 defendants charged alongside former President Donald Trump in the case began turning themselves in.

Eastman told reporters on his way out of the facility that he plans to “vigorously contest every count of the indictment.”

“I am confident that when the law is faithfully applied in this proceeding, all of my co-defendants and I will be fully vindicated,” he said outside the jail.

Trump and 18 others were charged last week by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. The former president says his actions were not illegal and that the investigation is politically motivated.

In a late Tuesday night release, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said it will release mugshots of those charged in the election fraud case every day at 4 p.m. until all the defendants have turned themselves in.

Giuliani has been charged with 13 counts, including violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Eastman is charged with nine counts, including two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree. The indictment names Eastman as among those allegedly involved in a scheme to solicit public officers to unlawfully appoint Georgia presidential electors.

When asked if he still believes the 2020 election was stolen, Eastman replied, “Absolutely, no question.”

Eastman said he is paying for his own legal fees and added that he has not spoken to Trump about the charges.

Eastman is also currently facing 11 disciplinary charges in the State Bar Court of California stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Monday set bond for Eastman at $100,000.

Co-defendant Scott Hall, like Eastman, was also processed and released Tuesday, one day after Judge McAfee set his bail at $10,000

Hall, a Georgia bail bondsman, is charged with seven counts, including two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud. He is among those accused of conspiring to commit election fraud in Coffee County.

All 19 defendants in the case are also charged with violating Georgia’s RICO Act.

Trump and the other defendants have until Friday to voluntarily surrender to authorities in Atlanta.

Trump wrote on his social media platform Monday night that he intends to surrender in Georgia on Thursday, after Judge McAfee set the former president’s bond at $200,000 on Monday.

Trump himself is facing 13 counts in the indictment, including three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, after he asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call, to “find him” enough votes to win the state.

Co-defendant Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice official charged in the case, filed a motion in federal court Tuesday seeking an emergency stay of the Fulton County proceedings, including his arrest warrant, until after Labor Day, so a judge could rule on his motion to remove his case to federal court. A judge ruled that Willis must respond to Clark’s motion by Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET.

Clark filed a separate motion to remove his case to federal court on the basis that he was serving as a high-ranking DOJ official during the timeframe alleged in the indictment. It followed a similar motion to remove filed last week by former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Meadows, on Tuesday, filed an emergency motion asking a federal judge to rule on his prior motion by noon on Friday, the deadline for his surrender to the Fulton County Jail.

Earlier Tuesday, co-defendant David Shafer, the former Georgia GOP chair, also filed his own notice of removal to federal court.

Shafer, one of Trump’s so-called “false electors,” argues in his filing that “as a contingent Presidential Elector, Mr. Shafer was an officer of the United States.”

The filing claims Shafer was charged for conduct that “stems directly from his service as a Presidential Elector nominee” and that he was working “at the direction of the President and other federal officers.”

ABC News’ Luke Barr, Meredith Deliso and Mark Osborne contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.