By Kanishka Singh for Reuters
Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted four times this year. Photo: AFP / Getty Images
Former US President Donald Trump plans to surrender on Thursday local time (Friday NZT) in Atlanta in connection with his indictment in Georgia on charges he sought to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, he said on social media.
"I'll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED," Trump, who is running for reelection in 2024, said on his Truth Social platform. He described the indictment as a politically motivated effort to derail his reelection campaign.
CNN earlier reported that Trump planned to turn himself in at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on Thursday local time. The date was set during negotiations between Trump's lawyers and the Fulton County district attorney's office over Trump's consent bond and release conditions, according to CNN.
In a 98-page Georgia indictment revealed last week, Trump and 18 other defendants were charged with a total of 41 criminal counts in connection with efforts to reverse his defeat in the state's 2020 election.
Trump's former personal lawyer John Eastman, also been indicted in the Georgia case, plans to surrender to Fulton County authorities on Wednesday local time, a court filing showed.
The Georgia case marked Trump's fourth indictment. He faces a New York state trial in March involving a hush money payment to a porn star and a federal trial in May in Florida for allegedly mishandling federal classified documents.
Another indictment, in Washington federal court, accuses him of illegally seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat. US Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested a January trial, but a date has not yet been set.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all criminal cases and could spend much of next year in court, even as he campaigns to retake the White House.
Photo: SETH WENIG
In Georgia, the former president will face a US$200,000 (NZ$337,000) bond and orders not to send threatening social media messages as the he awaits trial, according to a bond agreement signed by Trump's attorneys and Fulton Country District Attorney Fani Willis.
Security will tightened around the jail when Trump surrenders, the local sheriff's office said.
Trump has repeatedly asserted without evidence that indictments against him are "witch hunts." He has regularly attacked Willis online and called her "radical left" and "corrupt."
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and his co-defendants were indicted on 14 August. Willis gave them until Friday at noon local time to surrender or face arrest.
Prosecutors in the case have proposed that the trial start on 4 March, while Trump's lawyers have asked for a 2026 trial.
Trump's surrender will come a day after the first Republican primary presidential debate that the former president does not plan to attend.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Photo: SCOTT OLSON / AFP
Despite charges, Trump leads in early state Iowa
Trump holds a commanding lead over his Republican rivals in the state of Iowa, where the party's presidential nominating contest begins in January, according to an opinion poll released on Monday.
The Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom survey of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers shows Trump has the backing of 42 percent, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 19 percent and US Senator Tim Scott in third place with 9 percent.
Other Republican candidates in the crowded field aiming to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election registered in lower single-digit numbers.
Even so, J. Ann Selzer, the veteran Iowa pollster whose firm conducted the survey, said the race is not settled and might be "closer than it may first seem."
A majority - or 52 percent - said they had a first choice for president but could still be persuaded to support a different candidate, while 40 percent said their minds were made up.
Among Trump supporters, however, 66 percent said their vote was set, while 34 percent said they could be persuaded to change their minds.
Trump's four indictments showed little signs of deterring his supporters. The poll found 65 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers didn't think Trump had committed serious crimes, compared with the 26 percent who believed he had.
The poll was conducted from 13 to 17 August, coinciding with news that a Georgia grand jury had issued an indictment accusing him of efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
A national CBS poll on Sunday showed Trump was the preferred candidate for 62 percent of Republican voters, with DeSantis trailing behind at 16 percent.
- Reuters